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9.3 | |
Obtaining an IP address | |
| 9.3.1 | |
Obtaining an Internet address |
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A network host needs to obtain a globally
unique address in order to function on the Internet. The physical or
MAC address that a host has is only locally significant, identifying
the host within the local area network. Since this is a Layer 2
address, the router does not use it to forward outside the LAN.
IP addresses are the most commonly used
addresses for Internet communications. This protocol is a hierarchical
addressing scheme that allows individual addresses to be associated
together and treated as groups. These groups of addresses allow
efficient transfer of data across the Internet.
Network administrators use two methods
to assign IP addresses. These methods are static and dynamic. Later in this
lesson, static addressing and three variations of dynamic addressing
will be covered. Regardless of which addressing scheme is chosen, no
two interfaces can have the same IP address. Two hosts that have the
same IP address could create a conflict that might cause both of the
hosts involved not to operate properly. As shown in Figure
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, the hosts
have a physical address by having a network interface card that allows
connection to the physical medium. 
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