Internet Protocol Addresses

Internet Protocol Addresses

Each system on your network needs a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address for each of its network interfaces. The Internet Network Information Center (InterNIC) is responsible for assigning the network portion of an Internet address for each site. For example, if Company A applies for an Internet address, the InterNIC provides the network portion of the Internet address for the entire Company A site. A centralized organization within Company A is responsible for assigning and managing the station ID portion of the Internet address.

Internet addresses are maintained on each station or in a centralized network database such as NIS or BIND. See "Name-to-Address Mapping" for a comparison of the different database types. Each station that wishes to communicate must have a valid Internet address registered in the appropriate database. The standard hosts name-address database on IRIX stations is the /etc/hosts file.

The subsections that follow will help you answer this list of planning questions:

How do I obtain a valid Internet address for my site?
How do I obtain a domain name assigned for my site?
Do I understand the purpose of the /etc/hosts file?
Do I have valid Internet addresses ready for all required stations?

Format of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses
Obtaining a Network Number