TCP/IP Addressing Methods

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TCP/IP Addressing Methods

When a device, such as a server or workstation, is attached to a TCP/IP network, it is commonly referred to as a host. Each host connected through a TCP/IP network must have the capability to communicate with every other host on the network as needed—security considerations notwithstanding. This capability to communicate is not just limited to the Internet layer of the TCP/IP architecture. Rather, a host has to be able to communicate at all four layers: the Process/Application layer, Host-to-Host layer, Internet layer, and Network Access layer. Each layer of the model uses its own addressing method to communicate with a remote TCP/IP host.

Addressing at the Process/Application layer is provided using host names. This naming method allows hosts to be configured with easily remembered names. This is a significant advantage, since the Process/Application layer is the level seen directly by users. Host naming will be discussed later in Chapter 11, “Host Name Resolution.”

As a Windows NT administrator, you will undoubtedly be responsible for providing names for your servers. Please be kind to yourself and others. Use a name that makes sense in the context of your network and the location of your server. In a global economy, your network can easily expand beyond your wildest dreams. You might find it difficult to explain to your international colleague the significance of a domestically popular cartoon character. Check out RFC 1178 for recommended guidelines for naming a computer.

Port numbers are the addressing methods used at the Host-to-Host layer. These numbers are used to describe the interface to software processes operating on the host.

The Internet layer uses IP addresses. The current version of IP, IPv4, uses a 32-bit address. This amounts to a seemingly inexhaustible 4,294,967,296 addresses available. I emphasize “seemingly,” because as the Internet and world markets continue to expand at incredible rates, the current method of IP addressing will not keep up. This chapter concentrates on IP addressing elements, in addition to future trends these elements will follow.

Table 3.1 summarizes the addressing method used in each of the TCP/IP architecture.

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