Understanding IPv4 Addresses: How Four Numbers Define Every Device Online
IPv4, or Internet Protocol version 4, was officially standardized in 1981 through a public document known as RFC 791. It uses a format called Dotted Decimal Notation, where an address like 172.17.0.3 is divided into four segments separated by dots. Each segment is called an octet, representing 8 binary digits (bits) that can store a value between 0 and 255. Because computers process information as electrical on/off states represented by 0s and 1s, grouping 8 bits together allows 256 possible values per octet. With four such octets combined, an IPv4 address provides a structured way to uniquely identify devices on a network.
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