IPv4: Difference between revisions
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IPv4 was invented in the 1970s as the first major version of internet protocol. IPV4 allows numbers to map to physical devices and build a logical method for traffic to route from one number to another. Since its first introduction to the public in 1981, IPv4 became the foundation of the Internet and many other enterprise networks worldwide.<ref>[http://www.alertlogic.com/the-history-of-ipv4 alertlogic.com]</ref> | IPv4 was invented in the 1970s as the first major version of internet protocol. IPV4 allows numbers to map to physical devices and build a logical method for traffic to route from one number to another. Since its first introduction to the public in 1981, IPv4 became the foundation of the Internet and many other enterprise networks worldwide.<ref>[http://www.alertlogic.com/the-history-of-ipv4 alertlogic.com]</ref> | ||
The total number of unique IP addresses available under the IPv4 format is limited to approximately 4,294,967,296 | The total number of unique IP addresses available under the IPv4 format is limited to approximately 4,294,967,296 billion,<ref>[http://www.techterms.com/definition/ipv4 techterms.com]</ref> however it is not enough to cope with projected Internet demand.<ref>[http://www.iana.org/about/glossary/ www.iana.org]</ref> because of the increasing reliance on personal computers, wireless communication devices and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags etc. The Internet Engineering Task Force ([[IETF]]) predicted that the available IP addresses will be depleted as early as 2011. | ||
==IPv4 Header Format== | ==IPv4 Header Format== | ||