What does IP address mean?




The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) governs coordination of the links between IP addresses and domain names across the Internet. Each IP address (Internet Protocol Address) represents a location and assigned a domain name. With this standardized coordination, you can find websites on the Internet by entering domain names instead of IP addresses.

As an example, let’s think of a street address for a house or business – the Sydney Opera House. The street address is 2 Macquarie Street, Sydney. This is a unique, exact address, like a website’s IP address. You might not know the exact street address, but when you visit Sydney, you can tell your taxi driver that you want to visit the “Opera House” and you’ll be taken there. This is how a domain name is used, you might not know the 10 or so digit IP address but you can enter a domain name into your web browser and you’ll be taken to that location. The website at that IP address (and on that domain name) will be displayed for you to see.