A little bit about IP address (Internet Protocol address). Is a unique
address that certain electronic devices use in order to identify and communicate
with each other on a computer network utilizing the Internet Protocol
standard (IP)—in simpler terms, a computer address. Any participating
network device—including routers, computers, time-servers, printers, Internet
fax machines, and some telephones—can have their own unique address.
An IP address can also be thought of as the equivalent of a street address
or a phone number (compare: VoIP (voice over (the) internet protocol))
for a computer or other network device on the Internet. Just as each street
address and phone number uniquely identifies a building or telephone,
an IP address can uniquely identify a specific computer or other network
device on a network.
IP addresses can appear to be shared by multiple client devices either
because they are part of a shared hosting web server environment or because
a proxy server (e.g., an ISP or anonymizer service) acts as an intermediary
agent on behalf of its customers, in which case the real originating IP
addresses might be hidden from the server receiving a request. The analogy
to telephone systems would be the use of predial numbers (proxy) and extensions
(shared).
IP addresses are managed and created by the Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority (IANA). The IANA generally allocates super-blocks to Regional
Internet Registries, who in turn allocate smaller blocks to Internet service
providers and enterprises. |