IPv4
Technology & Computing abbreviation · Networking
| Stands for | Internet Protocol version 4 |
|---|---|
| Categories | Technology & Computing |
IPv4 stands for Internet Protocol version 4, a networking abbreviation.
Uses 32-bit addresses written as four decimal numbers separated by dots, such as 203.0.113.7, giving about 4.3 billion possible addresses. IPv4 still carries most internet traffic, and the shortage of unallocated addresses drove the spread of NAT and the creation of IPv6.
Example: The VPS plan includes one dedicated IPv4 address; additional addresses cost $2 per month each.
Usage notes
Defined in RFC 791 in September 1981. IANA handed its last free blocks of IPv4 addresses to the regional registries in February 2011, and addresses are now bought, leased and transferred on a secondary market. Version numbers 0 to 3 were experimental and version 5 went to an experimental streaming protocol, which is why the successor is numbered 6. Pronounced "I-P-v-four".
Related abbreviations
More networking abbreviations
- ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
- ICMP – Internet Control Message Protocol
- IETF – Internet Engineering Task Force
- IMAP – Internet Message Access Protocol
- IP – Internet Protocol
- IPsec – Internet Protocol Security
- IPv6 – Internet Protocol version 6
- IRC – Internet Relay Chat
- IS-IS – Intermediate System to Intermediate System
- iSCSI – Internet Small Computer Systems Interface
- ISP – Internet service provider
- IXP – Internet exchange point