Private network facts for kids
A private network is like a special, hidden part of the Internet that uses private IP addresses. Think of an IP address as a unique phone number for a device on a network. These private addresses follow a rule called RFC 1918.
Computers and other devices get these private addresses when they need to talk to each other on an Intranet. An Intranet is a private computer network, like the one in your home or school, that uses the same rules as the Internet.
Private networks are very common in homes and offices. Most places don't need a unique, public IP address for every computer or printer. Private IP addresses were created because there weren't enough public IP addresses available with the older IPv4 system. A newer system, IPv6, was made to fix this, but it's not used everywhere yet.
Routers on the main Internet are set up to ignore any messages that have private IP addresses. This makes private networks safer. It's usually not possible for people outside your network to connect directly to a device using these private addresses. Also, because private networks can't connect directly through the Internet, many different organizations can use the same private address numbers without causing problems or confusion.
If a device on a private network needs to talk to the outside Internet, it uses a special "gateway." This gateway makes sure the outside network sees a "real" (public) address. This way, Internet routers allow the communication. This gateway is often a NAT device or a proxy server. Public Internet routers usually don't send messages with private RFC 1918 addresses. However, routers inside your private network can send these messages without any special setup.
Sometimes, problems can happen if two different organizations try to connect their private networks, and both use the same private IP addresses. This can cause confusion and routing issues.
What is IANA?
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a group that helps manage the Internet. They handle things like giving out IP addresses, managing the main parts of the DNS, and other important Internet rules. ICANN runs IANA.
IANA has set aside specific ranges of IP addresses just for private networks. These are addresses that are not used on the public Internet. This helps keep things organized and prevents conflicts.
Here are the main ranges of private IP addresses:
- 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255: This is a very large range, good for big organizations.
- 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255: This is a medium-sized range.
- 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255: This is a smaller range, often used in homes and small offices.
These ranges were defined in a document called RFC 1918.
Related pages
See also
In Spanish: Red privada para niños
