Server address - Definition and Overview

A server address is a number or string of characters uniquely identifying an interface to a networked computer that provides one or more services. A server address can be a numeric IP address on private networks or on the Internet, although human-friendly names consisting of alphanumeric characters can also be given. The human-friendly names are then converted into the numeric addresses that computers understand by other servers dedicated to that purpose called "DNS servers" (DNS:Domain Naming System). Naturally, a DNS server cannot have an alphanumeric address.

The uniqueness required of a server address is determined by its context. On the properly-functioning Internet, there can be only one www.iana.org. However, thousands if not millions of different servers with the address "192.168.1.1" exist in private networks throughout the world in the form of DHCP servers embedded in broadband routers. The difference is in the very organization of the Internet. The Internet can be thought of consisting of computers directly connected to the Internet itself, as well as several connected through private routers. Each "private router" takes care of a private network. The addresses in the private network must be unique, although the same addresses can be used in multiple different private networks.

Example Usage of address