What are IP Addresses

An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is a unique address that certain electronic devices currently 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.

The Internet Protocol (IP) has two versions currently in use which are IPv4 and IPv6.
This article represents to IPv4 version only.

In general, an IP address is a 32-bit decimal number that is normally written as four numbers between 1 to 255 (8 bits or 1 byte each), each seperated from the other by a decimal point. This standard is known as "Dotted Decimal Notation".
e.g.- 117.200.77.110

IP addresses are divided into number of ranges/classes as given in the table below:


e.g.- IP Address 192.168.24.114 belongs to Class 'C'.

How to find out IP Address of your system?

1. Connect to the Internet.
2. Launch MS-DOS Command Prompt.
3. Type "netstat -n", Press Enter.

You will get the output similar to following:


The IP Address shown in local address field denotes IP Address of your system.
In this case it is 117.200.160.151

IP Address Formats:

Four different formats of IP Address along with example is as given below:

1. Domain Name System (DNS) : www.hackthepc.com
2. DWORD Format : 2928008962
3. Octal Format : 0256.0205.0337.002
4. Dotted Decimal Format : 174.133.223.2

Converting DNS IP Address into Normal IP Address:

You can easily get the IP Address of any domain by various methods such as WHOIS, Netstat, Ping, Traceroute, etc.
Here I have used 'Ping' to get IP Address.

1. Connect to the Internet.
2. Launch MS-DOS Command Prompt.
3. Type "ping domainname", Press Enter.

You will get the output similar to following:


Here, IP Address for Domain "www.hackthepc.com" is "174.133.223.2"

Thus by typing "http://hackthepc" OR "http://2928008962" OR "0256.0205.0337.02" OR "174.133.223.2" in your browser will take you to the same site.

Not all of these formats work in all browsers.