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What is an IP address?

IP Addresses

IP addresses (Internet Protocol addresses) are essential for communication over the Internet. There are two main types:

  • IPv4: A set of four numbers separated by periods (e.g., 207.44.214.87)
  • IPv6: A set of eight groups of four hexadecimal numbers separated by colons (e.g., 2001:0db8:0000:0042:0000:8a2e:0370:7334)

IPv6 was introduced to address the shortage of IPv4 addresses due to the rapid growth of the Internet. Every device connected to the Internet has a unique IP address, which identifies it and allows it to send and receive data.

Since humans struggle to remember numeric IP addresses, the Domain Name System (DNS) was created to map domain names to IP addresses, making it easier for people to access websites.

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