An “IP address” (Internet Protocol address) is a unique number assigned to each internet-connected device. Allowing other devices to contact and deliver messages to a specific device, similar to a phone number.
When a computer wants to go to a place on the internet, it needs to know the IP address of the hosting device. An IP address is made up of a series of numbers, like “172.16.254.1”.
Your computer uses a “DNS” (Domain Name System) server to determine the IP address of a location on the internet. A DNS server is like a phone book for the internet – it has a list of all the URLs for different places on the internet, and it knows the IP addresses of the devices hosting those places.
There are two main versions of IP addresses: IPv4 and IPv6.
IPv4
IPv4 stands for “Internet Protocol version 4.” It is the most widely used version of IP addresses. It consists of a series of numbers separated by periods, like “172.16.254.1”. Each number can be any value between 0 and 255.
IPv6
IPv6 stands for “Internet Protocol version 6.” The newer version of IP addresses consists of a series of numbers and letters separated by colons, like “2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334”. Each number or letter can be between 0 and 9 or a to f.
IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are used to identify devices on the internet, but IPv6 addresses are much longer than IPv4 addresses. This is because there are many more possible IPv6 addresses than IPv4 addresses, so they are less likely to run out.
