What is an IP Address?

Answer 1

If you think of the internet as the 'information superhighway,' then all of the computers on the internet are houses along that highway. Since they all share the same street, the only thing that separates them is their street number. In the current system, each street number is a 32-bit number, so it can be any of 4,294,967,296 possible address numbers. That's over 4 billion addresses, but the earth's population is over 6 billion people!

As the number of people using the internet grows, the current system, called IP version 4 (IPv4), is rapidly running out of addresses, especially since many people need more than one address (computer, cell phone, some printers, maybe a second or third computer). There are actually more than 4 billion machines using the internet now, but many are hidden behind routers that perform Network Address Translation (NAT) so that the interenet sees only one computer: the router those computers are behind.

The new system: IPv6, uses not 32 bits, but 64. This doubling of bits doesn't double the number of possible addresses, it squares the number. Squaring 4 billion gives an enourmous number of possible addresses: 1.84467E+19, or 18,446,744,073,709,600,000. That's about 3 billion times the population of the earth. Once fully adopted, it will be a very long time before IPv6 approaches its limits.

Answer 2

Every device connected to the public Internet is assigned a unique number known as an Internet Protocol (IP) address.IP addresses consist of four numbers separated by periods (also called a 'dotted-quad') and look something like 127.0.0.1.

Since these numbers are usually assigned to internet service providers within region-based blocks, an IP address can often be used to identify the region or country from which a computer is connecting to the Internet. An IP address can sometimes be used to show the user's general location.

Because the numbers may be tedious to deal with, an IP address may also be assigned to a Host name, which is sometimes easier to remember. Hostnames may be looked up to find IP addresses, and vice-versa. At one time ISPs issued one IP address to each user. These are called static IP addresses. Because there is a limited number of IP addresses and with increased usage of the internet ISPs now issue IP addresses in a dynamic fashion out of a pool of IP addresses (Using DHCP). These are referred to as dynamic IP addresses. This also limits the ability of the user to host websites, mail servers, ftp servers, etc. In addition to users connecting to the internet, with virtual hosting, a single machine can act like multiple machines (with multiple domain names and IP addresses).

Answer 3

IP Address stands for Internet Protocol Address. Simply put, it's the number that stands between you and your internet. Without your IP Address, your internet cannot work, unless I'm just really that tired. It's how the internet company tracks you, and how sites record you and such. And if it need be, it's how the Law traces you down.

Answer 4

IP address
(Internet Protocol address) The address of a device attached to an IP network (TCP/IP network). Every client, server and network device must have a unique IP address for each network connection (network interface). Every IP packet contains a source IP address and a destination IP address.


Static and Dynamic IP

An IP network is somewhat similar to the telephone network in that you have to have the phone number to reach a destination. The big difference is that IP addresses are often temporary.

Each device in an IP network is either assigned a permanent address (static IP) by the network administrator or is assigned a temporary address (dynamic IP) via DHCP software. Routers, firewalls and proxy servers use static addresses as do most servers and printers that serve multiple users. Client machines may use static or dynamic IP addresses. The IP address assigned to your service by your cable or DSL Internet provider is typically dynamic IP. In routers and operating systems, the default configuration for clients is dynamic IP (see DHCP).


Dotted Decimals

IP addresses are written in "dotted decimal" notation, which is four sets of numbers separated by periods; for example, 204.171.64.2. If you knew the IP address of a Web site, you could enter the dotted decimal number into your browser instead of the domain name (which is why we have DNS!).

Although the next version of the IP protocol offers a virtually unlimited number of unique addresses (see IPv6), the traditional IP address (IPv4) uses a 32-bit number that defines both the network and the host computer. The network class determines how many of the 32 bits are used for the network address, leaving the remaining bits for use as the host number (note the numbers of networks and hosts in the table below). The host number can be further divided between subnetworks and hosts (see subnet mask).


Class A, B and C

Although the computer identifies the class by the first three bits of the address (A=0; B=10; C=110), people identify the class by the first number in the address (see range below). This class-based system has also been greatly expanded, eliminating the huge disparity in the number of hosts that each class can accommodate (see CIDR).


Maximum Maximum Number of Class Number Hosts Bits used in Number of per Network/Host Class Range Networks Network ID ID A 1-126 127 16,777,214 7/24 B 128-191 16,383 65,534 14/16 C 192-223 2,097,151 254 21/8 127 reserved for loopback test
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IP - Logical or Physical?
An IP address is somewhat of a hybrid, which can be thought of as either logical or physical, depending on how you view it. It is a unique number assigned to a node, which makes it seem physical, especially because there is so much name-to-IP address resolution going on in the network.

There is also the Ethernet address, which is built into the network adapter. That is indeed physical, and it does not change, which is very typical of physical device names. However, since IP addresses can be dynamically assigned, causing the same client workstation to have a different IP address every day, the IP address seems more like a logical address. Regardless of what it is, it would make a great debate in a computer science class.
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IP address
An IP address (Internet Protocol Address) is a unique address that devices use in order to identify and communicate with each other on a computer network utilizing the Internet Protocol standard (IP). In simpler terms, a computer address. Any participating network device — including routers, computers, time-servers, printers, Internet fax machines, and some telephones — can have their own unique address. Also, many people can find personal information through IP addreses.

An IP address can also be thought of as the equivalent of a street address or a phone number (compare: VoIP) for a computer or other network device on the Internet. Just as each street address and phone number uniquely identifies a building or telephone, an IP address can uniquely identify a specific computer or other network device on a network.

An IP address can appear to be shared by multiple client devices either because they are part of a shared hosting web server environment or because a proxy server (e.g. an ISP or anonymizer service) acts as an intermediary agent on behalf of its customers, in which case the real originating IP addresses might be hidden from the server receiving a request. The analogy to telephone systems would be the use of predial numbers (proxy) and extensions (shared).

IP addresses are managed and created by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. IANA generally assigns super-blocks to Regional Internet Registries, who in turn allocate smaller blocks to Internet Service Providers and enterprises.

IP header size is 20 bytes.

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Answer 5

Ip address is your internet address. Where ever you go online, you get tracked and traced through websites. Each site you go, they know your internet supplier and probabaly can go ever further. A way to block and prevent is to find a program that hides or mask your ip address. They require proxy servers but you can find free proxy servers online. Another way is using anonymous.org.
The bad part of doing this is that it slows your internet connection, as it is like going through another site before reaching your own.

Answer 6

Your computer's (or game console's) online ID number. When you connect to someone's IP, you are in their network.

Answer 7

its how they track your computer down
when your doing stupid stuff online
such as, being a asshole on yahoo answers
not to say you are