Computer networking in 5 minutes: Static IP vs dynamic IP

What is an IP address?

An Internet Protocol address, or IP address, is a unique identifier assigned to every device on a TCP/IP network. The Internet Protocol is the set of rules that outlines how data should be transported across the internet or local networks. IP addresses help identify devices and allow them to communicate with each other.

Internally, IP addresses are stored as numbers. The Domain Name System (DNS) allows us to use words to identify different servers on the internet, such as an application, server, or website. When we type a URL into our search bar, DNS looks up that domain’s IP address and returns it to our network device. There are two main versions of IP addresses: IPv4 and IPv6.

IP addresses are strings of four numbers separated by characters. For example, an IP address could look like this: 152.132.4.23. They’re produced by a division of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to help make the internet more secure and accessible.

We can think of IP addresses as physical home addresses. We can exchange addresses with friends and family. Those addresses give us a destination that allows us to communicate with friends and family through different communication methods like birthday cards, letters, and more.