IP (Internet Protocol) addresses are used to identify hardware devices on a network. The addresses allow these devices to connect to one another and transfer data on a local network or over the internet.
Each address is a string of numbers separated by periods. There are four numbers in total and each number can range between 0 and 255. An example of an IP address would be: 506.457.14.512
We need billions of IP addresses to identify every computer, router and website on the internet. One day we’ll run out of unique addresses and a new IPv6 protocol has been designed to meet this need.
