Anatomy of an IP Address

An IP address has 32 bits divided into four octets (four sets of eight binary digits). To make the address easier to read, people use decimal numbers to represent the binary digits.

For example, the IP address 192.168.1.1 is 11000000.10101000.00000001.00000001 when written in binary. Notice that 32 binary digits create the address.

The lowest number of any octet is 00000000, or zero, and the highest number of any octet is 11111111 or 255.

When binary IP addresses are written in decimal format, it is often called dotted decimal notation.

An IP address has 32 bits divided into four octets (four sets of eight binary digits). To make the address easier to read, people use decimal numbers to represent the binary digits.