The Internet's Digital Address System (IP Addresses)
📌 Every device needs a unique identifier called an IP address (Internet Protocol address) to send or receive data online, acting as its digital home address.
🆚 The older IPv4 system offered about 4 billion addresses, which became insufficient due to the proliferation of smart devices.
💡 IPv6 was invented as the future-proof solution, offering a vastly larger number of addresses, described as enough for every grain of sand on Earth to have one.
🧩 Every IP address is split into two parts: the network ID (street/zip code) and the host ID (house number), which pinpoints the specific device.

Decoding Addresses: The Role of DNS
📌 The Domain Name System (DNS) functions as the internet's worldwide phone book, translating memorable names (like www.google.com) into computer-readable IP addresses.
🔎 The DNS lookup process involves your computer asking a DNS resolver, which first checks its cache; if unsuccessful, it queries other servers until the correct IP address is found.
⏱️ This entire process of name-to-number translation typically happens faster than the blink of an eye.

Automatic Address Assignment (DHCP and APIPA)
📌 DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is the automated system, usually running on your router, responsible for handing out IP addresses to devices joining a network.
🤝 DHCP uses a four-step conversation known by the acronym DORA (Discover, Offer, Request, Acknowledge) to politely assign an address.
⚠️ If a device fails to find a DHCP server, it uses APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing), assigning itself an address starting with 169.254.xxx.xxx, allowing local network communication but not internet access.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ The essential components for getting online are the IP address (location), DNS (name-to-number translator), and DHCP (automatic address assigner).
🧑‍💻 Developers use the loopback address (127.0.0.1) to test network software locally without sending any data onto the actual internet.
✨ IPv4 addresses were classified (A, B, C), where Class C addresses often use the first three numbers for the network ID and the last number for the host ID.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Nov 20, 2025, 11:23 UTC