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Answer:

Yes. There are several protocols available, but when two computers communicate they must agree on which one to use.


Internet

The Internet consists of many networks that have been connected together to form one huge worldwide network. Even on this huge network, each computer must have a unique network address, called an IP address, much like each telephone in the world has a unique telephone number (including the country code and area code).

Here a typical IP address:

149.152.21.203

IP addresses actually are 32-bit binary numbers. Networking equipment uses these addresses to route information over the network. The above example shows the standard way of writing these bits using decimal digits.

But even when written in decimal the address is not clear to humans. One of the features of the World Wide Web is that it allows humans to use computer names rather than numbers. Here is a typical computer name:

chortle.ccsu.edu

This computer name corresponds to the above IP address. When you use it in a Web browser it is converted into the 32 binary digits of the computer's IP address.

As an experiment, enter the above IP address into the address field of your browser and hit return. Now do the same with the computer name. You will get to the same web page with each.


QUESTION 17:

(Thought Question: ) With so many computers connected to the Web, do you suppose that there is trouble giving each computer its own address?