IP Address.

it is in series ant the ip adress are also splited its a very big concept you can see it on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a usually numerical label assigned to each device (e.g., computer, printer) participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.[1] An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing. Its role has been characterized as follows: "A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how to get there."[2] The designers of the Internet Protocol defined an IP address as a 32-bit number[1] and this system, known as Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), is still in use today. However, due to the enormous growth of the Internet and the predicted depletion of available addresses, a new addressing system (IPv6), using 128 bits for the address, was developed in 1995,[3] standardized as RFC 2460 in 1998,[4] and is being deployed world-wide since the mid-2000s. IP addresses are binary numbers, but they are usually stored in text files and displayed in human-readable notations, such as 172.16.254.1 (for IPv4), and 2001:db8:0:1234:0:567:8:1 (for IPv6). The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) manages the IP address space allocations globally and delegates five regional Internet registries (RIRs) to allocate IP address blocks to local Internet registries (Internet service providers) and other entities.

IP address is like the chasis number in every car produced so the manufacture and other can keep track of from theft and defect etc. IP addresses work similarly and people will know exactly what computer is used especially in internet and email etc.

well There are two kind of ip address.. one is local.. one is for internet.. sometimes when you just have intranet system called LAN at that time you can have local ipaddress of range in 192.*.*.* or 10.*.*.* which is unique in your local network.. when you are talking about internet.. you can have either dynamic ip or static ip.. dynamic ip means it will change everytime you reconnect with internet where static ip means it will be same for every time you connect with internet.. your ip is dynamic or static is based upon your ISP and internet plan you have chosen.. I am having static ip at my office and dynamic ip at my home..

I really don't know but I am guessing it comes from the way the internet connection comes to you.

Hello DoctorDidi, I am not sure if I understood well your question. You are asking how an IP is fixed, right ? It is the job of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers -- ICANN -- to fix the rules of attribution for these IP. You can read more in there FAQ, here : http://www.icann.org/en/faq/ The coordination is done by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority -- IANNA -- : http://www.iana.org/ I wan to add that all IP are not unique around the world : there are three class of private IPs for local networks by the ICANN, and it is why all routers of the same model are using by default the same address in the LAN. I hope this help you.

Oh this is something I don't have knowledge since I am not that literate when it comes to computer technology. Reading some of the responses had given me ideas and know what? I learn from this discussion,thank you very much for starting this, Kudos!