An IP number looks like this:
Every computer on the internet has an ip number.
Content servers--the servers that handle e-mail and web html files--generally have the same IP number all of the time.
Computers connected to the internet by a broadband connection generally have the same IP number for as long as the computer is up and running.
Computers that connect to the internet by dialing out through a modem to a local internet service provider will generally get a different IP number, depending on which modem in the ISP's modem pool answers the incoming call. If it were possible to always get the same modem, you would always get the same ip number.
This "dotted quad" number is something we humans will rarely see. The domain name servers on the internet map names like www.openvistas.net to dotted quad IP numbers. In this case, www.openvistas.net maps to 12.10.247.87.
It is possible to use dotted quad ip numbers to go to a web page on the internet. Try this for example http://12.10.247.87. It is much easier to remember www.openvistas.net than it is to remember that www.openvistas.net maps to 12.10.247.87!
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