Since 1981, the internet has been operating on the basis of the ‘internet protocol’: a network protocol that regulates the dispatch routes of users. To send a data packet in a network, the transmitter must know the IP address of the receiver. The Net ID and Host ID are hidden inside the IP address. Thus, the corresponding network and its host – e.g. a PC or a network printer – can be identified. Based on this information, routers are able to forward data packets to the correct recipients.
Computers only understand zeros and ones, so they operate in binary systems and as a result of this, IP addresses are also configured in binary. The current operating IPv4 system consists of 32 bits, i.e. 32 zeros or ones. To make it easier to understand and to save space, IP addresses are usually represented in decimal notation, and by dots – the ‘dotted decimal notation’: 192.168.88.3.