The rapid development of the Internet has led to the fact that billions of users around the globe have gained access to it. A huge number of computers are connected to the network at the same time, so there is a need to identify them.
You decided to go to your favorite site, clicked on the link saved in the browser, and here is a familiar page in front of you. Everything is simple, convenient, accessible. But how did you go exactly to the site you are interested in?
In order to be able to identify any computer on the network at any time and not get confused, the so-called ip-addressing was introduced at the dawn of the Internet. Each computer is assigned an ip-address when connected to the network: it is important that at the same time in the network there cannot be two computers with the same ip.
For a computer, an ip address is the same as a postal address for a house. It is thanks to the uniqueness of each ip-address that it becomes possible to accurately transfer information from one computer to another, while the data packets arrive exactly as intended, without getting lost along the way and without getting to other computers.
The allocation of ip-addresses is handled by ICANN, or The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. It is this organization that allocates ranges of addresses to providers who already distribute them among users.
You need to know that ip-addresses are divided into static and dynamic. Static ones are assigned for a long time: having a static address, you can turn off your computer, then reconnect to the network - you will still have the same ip. Dynamic addresses are assigned only while you are online. When you disconnect from the Internet and connect again, you may already have a different address. This type of addressing, in particular, is used by cellular operators.
A typical network address consists of four groups of numbers separated by periods - for example, 85.26.183.222. You can determine your own address at any time by going to one of the many ip determination services.
Why is not the ip-address entered into the address bar of the browser, but the domain name? This is done solely for the convenience of users, the domain name is much easier to understand and remember. When you follow the link, the request first goes to the DNS server, which stores information about domain names and their corresponding ip-addresses. The server sends the information to the browser by the ip-address, and the browser goes to the site you are interested in. You can get to the site by entering its ip-address in the address bar.
