How to store and search for an IP Address

Question

I have the 4 sources of IP addresses , I want to store them in SQL Server and allow the ranges, that can be categorised by the originating country code, to be maked in an E

Answer 1

An IPv4 address can be stored as a four-byte unsigned integer (an uint in C#). An IPv6 address can be an eight-byte unsigned integer (an ulong in C#). Create columns of the appropriate width in SQL, then retrieve and store them in variables. You then use simple integer math to check for the ranges you want, assuming that the ranges are actually contiguous.

A more elaborate solution would be to create an IPAddress class that gives you access to the more familiar dotted-quad structure, but under the covers it would do the exact same thing that you have here.