An IP address (or Internet Protocol Address) is a unique numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. It serves two primary purposes: identifying the host or network interface and providing the location of the host on the network.
There are two types of IP addresses:
- IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4): A 32-bit numeric address format, expressed in dotted decimal notation (e.g., 192.168.1.1).
- IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6): A 128-bit alphanumeric address format, expressed in hexadecimal and separated by colons (e.g., 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334), designed to address the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses.
IP addresses can also be classified as:
- Public IP Address: Globally unique and used for devices that connect to the internet. For example, 203.0.113.45
- Private IP Address: Used within local networks and not directly accessible from the internet. For example, 192.168.1.10, 10.0.0.5, 172.16.0.20
- Static IP Address: Manually configured and does not change.
- Dynamic IP Address: Automatically assigned by a DHCP server and may change over time.
IP addresses are essential for routing data across the internet and other networks, enabling devices to locate and communicate with one another.