what is leasing an ipv4 block?

Question

When you lease an ipv4 block what do you actually get? How do you get access to the ip adresses? Is any special equipment required or is it as simple as renting a server?

Answer 1

When you lease an IPv4 block, you will likely be in a scenario like the following: You have a network stack in your datacenter colocation. Your customer edge device (likely a firewall for NAT functionality) will host the /24 with the exception of the gateway IP which will be the IP of the ISP router. Anyone trying to reach your /24 will go through that ISP router to your customer edge device. Return traffic will likewise go through the ISP router. That is one scenario, but I hope it gives you an idea of how this process works.