A communication between two machines using IPv4 involves several steps:
1. The sending machine identifies the IP address of the receiving machine. This can be done manually, by configuring the IP address on both machines, or automatically, by using an IP address allocation protocol like DHCP.
1. The sending machine breaks down the data it wants to send into smaller packets, each with a maximum size of 1500 bytes. Each packet includes the IP address of the receiving machine, as well as information about the sequence of packets and their length.
1. The sending machine sends the packets to the nearest router, which looks up the IP address of the receiving machine in its routing table. The routing table maps IP addresses to the appropriate network interface and gateway, which is the next hop for the packet.
1. If the receiving machine is on a different network, the packet is sent through the next hop router. This process continues until the packet reaches the final router, which delivers the packet directly to the receiving machine.
1. The receiving machine reassembles the packets into the original data and sends an acknowledgement back to the sending machine. This acknowledgement helps ensure that the data was delivered successfully.
1. If any packets are lost or damaged during transmission, the sending machine retransmits them until they are successfully delivered.
