IP Version 4 addresses consist of 32 bits(0 through 31) partitioned into four groups of eight bits each. Each of this group is called an octet. It will be very difficult to understand and decipher the IP addresses if they were represented in the binary form and so they are reprsented in decimal form. Four decimal numbers separated by a dot, each standing for one octet. So, for example an IP address would look like this, 206.172.180.100.