An IP address, short for Internet Protocol address, is a unique numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses are used to identify and locate devices on a network, allowing them to communicate with other devices and access resources on the internet.
There are two primary versions of IP addresses in use:
- IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4): This version uses a 32-bit numeric address format, expressed as four sets of numbers ranging from 0 to 255 and separated by dots (e.g., 192.168.1.1). IPv4 addresses are the most widely used but have limitations in available addresses due to their fixed length.
- IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6): IPv6 uses a 128-bit hexadecimal address format, providing a much larger pool of unique addresses compared to IPv4. It’s gradually being adopted to overcome the address exhaustion issue faced by IPv4.
IP addresses can be public or private. Public IP addresses are globally unique and used to identify devices on the internet. Private IP addresses are used within private networks (like home or office networks) and are not directly accessible from the internet.
IP addresses can be assigned manually (static IP) or automatically (dynamic IP). Dynamic IP addresses are often assigned by a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server and may change over time, while static IP addresses remain fixed.