An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is a unique number, and is the standard way of identifying a computer that is connected to the Internet, much the way a telephone number identifies a telephone on a telephone network.

The IP address is used by computers to refer to each other when sending information through the Internet. This allows machines passing the information onwards on behalf of the sender to know where to send it next, and for the machine receiving the information to know that it is the intended destination.

An IP address is four numbers separated by periods, and each number is less than 256. An example IP address is 207.142.131.236.

Converting to such numbers from the more human-readable form of domain addresses, such as mambo-foundation.org is done via the Domain Name System (DNS) . The process of conversion is known as resolution of the domain name.