Help with IP Address

[ryan1975]

I am really confused when it comes to IP Addresses. I am newbie. I am
trying to learn by setting up Windows Server 2003 and one Client PC. I
am using a BT Broadband ADSL Router 220V (which has one network port)
and a Netgear 5 Port Switch. I have purchased a Static IP Address from
my ISP.

Firstly, i need know to know how do i know if this static IP Address i
have purchased is a private or public IP Address? And what is the
difference?

When i log onto the internet to see what IP Address i am on, it is
showing my static IP Address. I have not had to configure my router to
a static IP Address. How do i assign IP Addresses to my Server and
Client PC?

Does the server assign the IP Addresses for them to communicate or is
it the router?

Thanks in advance.

Ryan

 

[Bill Artemik]

am using a BT Broadband ADSL Router 220V (which has one network port)
and a Netgear 5 Port Switch. I have purchased a Static IP Address from
my ISP.

Firstly, i need know to know how do i know if this static IP Address i
have purchased is a private or public IP Address? And what is the
difference?

Any static IP address you purchase is public. There is a range if IP
addresses specifically set aside for "private" network addressing. The
ranges are:
10.0.0.1 - 10.255.255.254 / 8
172.16.0.1-172.31.255.254 /12
192.168.0.0-192.168.255.254 /16
(the number after the "/" is called a CIDR (or network mask and designates
the broadcast range of the address you choose.)

When i log onto the internet to see what IP Address i am on, it is
showing my static IP Address. I have not had to configure my router to
a static IP Address. How do i assign IP Addresses to my Server and
Client PC?

Depending on your ADSL router, you have two network settings groups: WAN and
LAN (WAN = the world outside your routed network and LAN = your private
network.)
The STATIC IP address is your WAN address. Typically, your ISP will provide
you with the address you purchased, their router (gateway) address and at
least one DNS server to use for internet name lookups. You program this into
the WAN section of your ADSL router. On the LAN side, they typically have a
pre-defined address range you get assigned (like 192.168.1.1 with a subnet
mask of 255.255.255.0 [which = a CIDR of 24] This means you can have up to
254 network connections inside your private LAN using this 192.168.1.xx
address.) In addition to the LAN network address, you will probably have
something called DHCP running on the router. DHCP = Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol and is the software responsible for issuing an
address from the 192.168.1.x range, in the example above, to any new
computer or printer, etc, that you plug into your network. DHCP greatly
simplifies your network management in that you do not have to manually
assign and keep track of the addresses for network equipment.

If you have a Windows Server running on your LAN, check to make sure it also
does not have DHCP running. You can only have ONE DHCP server running per
LAN. If you want Windows Server to handle DNS and DHCP you will need to turn
this feature off on your ADSL router.

You can find a very quick explanation of the addressing scheme used on the
internet here:
http://www.jpsdomain.org/networking/nat.html

There are many others that go into great depth but this will give you a
start. Check out some CISCO tutorials, too. They rule in this topic.

Bill