10 min read Intermediate Lesson 1 of 8
Part 1 — The Journey Begins

IP Addresses & Global Routing

Every connected device on Earth has an IP Address (Internet Protocol). Packets hop across fiber-optic undersea cables through routers guided by BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) to reach their destination in milliseconds.

IPv4 vs IPv6 Scale

IPv4 (32-bit) yields 4.3 billion addresses (depleted). IPv6 (128-bit) provides $3.4 \times 10^{38}$ addresses—enough to assign millions of unique IPs to every grain of sand on the planet!

Quick Summary

  • IP addresses route packets across autonomous networks via BGP routing.
  • Next, we explore DNS: The Phonebook of the Internet.