Digital information

IPv4 address

An IPv4 address is a numerical label used to identify a device on a computer network that uses Internet Protocol version 4 for communication.

Also known as: Internet Protocol version 4 address

How big is it?

4 B of data

Binary address size · standard

Scale illustration of IPv4 address, calibrated to its binary address size measurement.
The marked binary address size represents 4 B.

A little perspective

About 4 times the data of ASCII character.

ASCII character: An ASCII character is a letter, digit, punctuation mark or control code encoded using the American Standard Code for Information Interchange.

Linear measure
BYTES OF DATA4 B1 B
01
IPv4 address4 BBinary address size
Bar length represents bytes. The physical sizes of devices are schematic; encoding and compression affect file sizes.
Measurements, assumptions & sources +

IPv4 address

An IPv4 address contains exactly 32 bits, or four bytes. Text forms such as 192.0.2.1 occupy more storage because they encode punctuation and digits.

RFC 791 — Internet Protocol

The marked binary address size is calibrated. Unmeasured illustration details are representative.

ASCII character

One ASCII character stored as one byte. UTF-8 characters can occupy more than one byte.

Defined examples — our methodology

The marked data is calibrated. Unmeasured illustration details are representative.

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Why this measurement?

Why we use 4 B

For comparison, this page uses binary address size. The record labels this value standard, so the stated convention rather than an inferred average controls the comparison.

An IPv4 address contains exactly 32 bits, or four bytes. Text forms such as 192.0.2.1 occupy more storage because they encode punctuation and digits.

The identifying illustration and the numerical comparison remain separate. How calibrated comparisons work →

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Recorded properties

IPv4 address dimensions and measurements

PropertySelected valueRecorded rangeBasis
4 BNot recordedstandard

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Sources and method

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