IP Addresses

IP stands for Internet Protocol. An IP address is used in conjunction with an ISP router to direct network traffic. Basically it's an internet service provider technology that uniquely identifies a computer or device on the Internet, just like a real-world address uniquely identifies a place in the real world. Devices hooked directly up to the Internet need global IP addresses. A router so hooked up can take information given to it and further distribute it to local IP addresses -- just like an apartment building can have multiple local addresses for its one street address. IP addresses are always of the form xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx where 'x' can range from 0-9.