IP and MAC addressing

2. Addressing

The suggestion on the previous page of giving each device a simple number identity is fine in theory but in practice it has to be a bit more complicated. Because

• The numbering scheme has to be 'computer friendly'
• The scheme has to handle a vast amount of devices
• The scheme has to deal with more than one network

In terms of being 'computer friendly', the numbering scheme should be based on binary numbers, as that is what computers are designed to use.

A 32 bit binary number addressing scheme called 'IP' or 'Internet Protocol' was agreed upon more that fourty years ago and it has allowed the internet to become the planet-wide network it is today.