What is IP Address ? Yeh! Pretty simple question “An IP address is a unique address that identifies a device on the internet or a local network. IP stands for "Internet Protocol," which is the set of rules governing the format of data sent via the internet or local network.” Lets start this with a very simple ques. Which of the following is correct IP address?

1. 3233819488
2. 192.168.43.96
3. Both
4. None of the above

I am pretty sure most of you will say the IP address with 192.168.43.96 is correct IP address so now let’s understand the concept behind this. As you know whenever you search anything firstly it will be resolved by the DNS (domain name system)

In the same way there is something behind this the way IP address is stored As you know in computer science everything is the game of zeros and one this is where the twist comes. Answer for the above question is all are valid IP address Won’t believe me? Let me explain with an example.

Here the IP address is 192.168.43.96 this is the string value. Binary format of above IP address: - 11000000 , 10101000 , 00101011 , 10010110 Octet Value Binary Integer equivalent
1st 192 11000000 256^31st octet = 16777216192

2nd 168 10101000 256^22nd octet = 65536168

3rd 43 00101011 256^13rd octet = 25643

4th 96 10010110 256^04th octet = 196

So Now we are converting the decimal address from dotted string.

= 16777216192+65536168+25643+196 =3221225472+12582912+11008+96 = 3233819488 And if you just search this IP you will land to the same page. So yes there is something behind this dotted notation of IP address you see. Hope you will get a clear idea of what is IP address and how you can.

Thanks