22/10/2007
An IP address (Internet Protocol
address) is a unique address that certain electronic devices
use in order to identify and communicate with each other on a
computer
network utilizing the Internet Protocol standard
(IP)—in simpler terms, a computer
address. Any participating network
device—including routers, switches, computers, time-servers,
printers, Internet fax machines, and some telephones—can have their own unique
address.
In other words, the IP address acts as a
locator for one IP device to find another and
interact with it. It is not intended, however, to act as an
identifier that always uniquely identifies a
particular device.
An IP address can also be thought of as the equivalent of a
street address or a
phone number
(compare: VoIP (voice over (the) internet
protocol)) for a computer or other network device on the Internet.
Just as each street address and phone number uniquely identifies a
building or telephone, an IP address can uniquely identify a
specific computer or other network device on a network. An IP
address differs from other contact information, however, because
the linkage of a user's IP address to his/her name is not publicly
available information.
Further, an IP address is not necessarily linked, in a
persistent way, to a physical location or even
data link
layer address.
In the past, an IP address could be considered a unique
identifier of a particular IP host, in addition to
being a locator. When it was usable as an identifier, it was
static, and it was assumed to be globally
unique from end to end of the Internet.
In current practice, an IP address is less likely to be an
identifier, due to technologies such as:
- Dynamic assignment, as with an address that is
assigned by the access device by which the user's host connects
over a dialup telephone line or by a set-top box for an IP over
cable network. However the network provider maintains a database of
which IP address was assigned to which access port on dialup, or
MAC address on LANs or
broadband networks. This information, assuming it is available to
the investigator, may help to identify the computer, although that
is unlikely if it was a dialup connection where the identifier is
of the dial-in port, not the computer itself. More extensive
forensic work, with access to telephone records, may identify the
calling telephone, although that may itself be a "cutout" on the
way to the real telephone.
- Network address
translation (or NAT), a feature common on gateway
routers in corporate networks or home LANs, where the address
visible to the Internet is the "outside" of a device that maps it
to a completely different and hidden address on the "inside". See
IP Address Translation, below.
2007-10-20
?SCARY
THEY STUCK IN MY NOSE,WHAT ARE THAY AND WHERE AND
HOW HAS THIS HAPPEND?
DAMP HOUSE
NO HOT WATER FOR 6 WEEKS NOW
NO HEATERS ARE WORKING
HOUSE FULL OF DAMP MITES ARE WHAT EVER THEY ARE
KIDS HEALTH AT RISK
ANY BODY CAN GIVE
ADVISE,PLEASE
