What do I need an IP for?

IP is the abbreviation for Internet Protocol, a network protocol that uniquely identifies computers on a network. Both the web server and the computer have their own IP address. In this way, the data streams can be clearly assigned, since the sender and recipient can be identified. So when a PC connected to the Internet calls up a website, the browser sends the IP address of the computer to the server. This in turn also has an Internet Protocol address. The requested data package, i.e. the website, is then sent to the address of the requesting computer and is interpreted and displayed there by the browser.

So that Internet users do not have to remember the complex Internet Protocol addresses, domains are assigned to them. This is done through DNS, the domain name system. This way, users just need to remember the domain name and type it into the browser. This now queries the IP address assigned to the domain from a name server and is forwarded to the appropriate server. It is also possible to assign IP addresses manually in a private network.

A distinction is made between IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. The original version, IPv4, consists of 32 bits, which means that a total of 4,294,967,296 addresses can be represented – not enough to cover the rapidly expanding Internet. For this reason, the 128-bit IPv6 was introduced. Internet Protocol addresses are assigned by the IANA. This distributes IP addresses in blocks to various regional sub-organizations, which in turn forward the addresses to Internet providers. In this way, the addresses reach the customers of Internet service providers such as centron. Here customers can rent domains servers and register domains that are assigned to a unique IP address.

You can find more information about IP here.