Private and Public Addresses in IP Addressing Design - Essay Example

Private IP addressing helps improve the network's security, besides conserving public address space. Private IP addressing is used for connecting client computers on a private network, for example in institutions. This addressing method allows for easier communication between network computers. Private networks allow the network administrator to arbitrarily assign a local machine an IP address of his choice if it falls within the range of private networks shown above. This is quite different from public networks. The nature of private networks restricts access to the private network. However, it is possible to connect two private networks by use of a device that allows Network Address Translation (NAT), for instance, a router.

A public IP address, on the other hand, is allocated to each machine that connects to the internet where all IPs are unique. Therefore, it is not possible to have two computers sharing a public IP address on the internet. Public addressing enables multiple computers to connect over the internet and share information. Public IPs are assigned to each computer by the ISP when a computer connects to the gateway so the user of the computer cannot change the public IP address assigned to his computer. A computer accessing the internet from a private network has both private and public IP addresses. In essence, it can be said that private IP is for communicating within the network while public IP is applied for internet communication.