Catalog
concept#Network architecture#Network security#Observability#Platform

Internet Protocol Address (IP Address)

An IP address is a unique numeric identifier for devices in IP networks that enables addressing and routing.

An IP address is a numeric identifier assigned to devices on the Internet or private networks for unique addressing and routing.
Established
Medium

Classification

  • Medium
  • Technical
  • Architectural
  • Intermediate

Technical context

DNS systems (e.g. Bind, CoreDNS)DHCP servers and IPAM solutionsRouting infrastructure (BGP/OSPF) and firewalls

Principles & goals

Uniqueness: Addresses must be unique within their routing context.Consistency: Consistent prefix allocation and documentation reduce errors.Separation: Clearly separate and secure public and private address spaces.
Build
Enterprise, Domain, Team

Use cases & scenarios

Compromises

  • IP spoofing and related security incidents.
  • Misconfigurations leading to reachability outages.
  • Insufficient documentation causing address conflicts and chaos.
  • Document all assignments and reservations clearly.
  • Use automated IPAM support to avoid manual errors.
  • Separate public and private addresses and use ACLs.

I/O & resources

  • Addressing policy and subnet plan
  • Inventory of existing hosts and services
  • Provider allocations and routing information
  • Assignment documentation (prefixes, gateways)
  • Configuration files for network devices and DHCP
  • Monitoring dashboards for reachability

Description

An IP address is a numeric identifier assigned to devices on the Internet or private networks for unique addressing and routing. It covers address families (IPv4, IPv6), subnetting, public versus private ranges, and allocation and security considerations. Understanding IP addressing is essential for network design and troubleshooting.

✔

  • Enables packet routing and reachability across networks.
  • Basis for network segmentation, access control and policies.
  • Supports scaling via hierarchical addressing (subnetting).

✖

  • Address scarcity in IPv4 without NAT or migration.
  • Complexity in adopting IPv6 and coexisting with IPv4.
  • Insufficient by itself for authentication or identity verification.

  • Address utilization rate

    Ratio of used to available IP addresses in a prefix.

  • Mean time to resolve (MTTR) for IP conflicts

    Average time until an IP conflict is resolved.

  • Rate of successful routing updates

    Share of routing changes propagated without errors.

Private IPv4 in corporate network

Use of RFC1918 address spaces (e.g. 10.0.0.0/8) to segment internal services and NAT for internet access.

Dual-stack deployment

Servers receive both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses to enable gradual IPv6 compatibility.

Public IPs for customer APIs

Dedicated public addresses are reserved for API gateways, including BGP routing with the provider.

1

Analyze current address inventory and requirements.

2

Create a consistent addressing and subnet plan.

3

Configure DHCP, DNS and routing according to the plan.

4

Introduce monitoring and maintain documentation.

⚠️ Technical debt & bottlenecks

  • Legacy IPv4 workarounds (oversized NAT rules) complicate migration.
  • Unstructured IP allocation across distributed teams.
  • Lack of IPAM tooling for automated tracking.
IPv4 address scarcityDHCP outage as single point of failureComplex NAT translations
  • Assigning public IPv4 addresses to internal devices without a firewall.
  • Multiple DHCP servers with overlapping scopes without coordination.
  • Manual changes to gateway addresses without documentation.
  • Accidental subnet overlap during growth.
  • Overlooking SLA or provider routing constraints.
  • Assuming public reachability without NAT/firewall checks.
IP networking fundamentals and subnettingKnowledge of IPv4/IPv6 and transition mechanismsExperience with DHCP, DNS and routing protocols
Scalability of address allocationSecurity and segmentation requirementsInteroperability between IPv4 and IPv6 environments
  • • Public IPv4 pool resource limits
  • • Regulatory constraints on number allocation
  • • Dependency on provider routing and BGP policies