In order to enable many computer hosts on the Internet to identify each other when communicating, each host on the Internet is assigned a unique 32-bit address, which is called an IP address, also known as an Internet address. address. The IP address consists of 4 numbers, each number can range from 0 to 255, and each number is separated by a period "." (for example: 202.103.8.46). In fact, every IP address is composed of two parts: a network number and a host number. The network number indicates the network to which the host is connected, and the host number identifies the specific host on the network. For example: In the above example, 202.103 is the network number and 8.46 is the host number.
With the gradual popularization of computer technology and the rapid development of Internet technology, learning and using the Internet is no longer the exclusive domain of wealthy people and professional technicians with deep eyes. It has become a new way of life for mankind in the 21st century and has gradually penetrated into the homes of ordinary people. When talking about the Internet, IP addresses cannot be ignored, because IP addresses are a very important concept whether from the perspective of learning or using the Internet. Many services and features of INTERNET are reflected through IP addresses.
We know that the Internet is the general name for the communication network composed of computers all over the world. When two computers connected on a certain network communicate with each other, the data packets they transmit will contain some additional information. This additional information is the address of the computer sending the data and the address of the computer receiving the data. Like this, for the convenience of communication, people assign an identification address to each computer in advance, similar to the telephone number in our daily life. This identification address is the IP address we are going to introduce today. According to the TCP/IP protocol, the IP address is composed of 32-bit binary numbers and is unique within the INTERNET range. For example, the IP address of a computer connected to the Internet is:
11010010 01001001 10001100 00000010
Obviously, these numbers are not easy for people to remember. In order to facilitate memory, people divide the 32-bit binary that makes up the computer's IP address into four segments, each segment is 8 bits, separated by decimal points, and then convert each eight-bit binary into a decimal number, so that the IP address of the above computer becomes Became: 210.73.140.2.