IP Address
An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a long string of unique numbers that identifies each computer connected to the Internet. More generally, this string identifies the interface with the network of any computer equipment (router, printer) connected to a computer network using the Internet Protocol.
In order to be contacted by other computers on an IP network, each computer must have its own IP address.
An IP address contains two valuable pieces of information:
- host or network interface identification (who it is); and
- location addressing (where it is).
To make an analogy, an IP address is a bit like the telephone network number associated with a given telephone.
There are two protocols: IPv4 and IPv6. The shortage of IPv4 addresses has required the creation of IPv6. The IPv4 are composed of 32 bits divided into 4 bytes ranging from 0 to 254. IPv6 is composed of 128 bits divided into 16 bytes in hexadecimal writing. Both types of addresses are supported at PlanetHoster.