What is an IP Address?

In computer networking, an IP address (short for "Internet Protocol address") is a unique numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network. The IP address serves two main functions:

1. Identifying the device: Each device on a network must have a unique IP address, which acts as its "address" or " identifier". This allows data packets to be delivered to the correct device on a network.
2. Routing data packets: When a device sends data over the network, the IP address of the destination device is used to determine where the data should be sent. The data packets are routed through the network based on their IP addresses.

IP addresses are typically written in "dotted decimal" notation, with four numbers separated by dots (e.g., 192.168.1.1). Each number can range from 0 to 255, which allows for a total of over 16 million possible unique IP addresses.

There are two main types of IP addresses:

1. IP version 4 (IPv4): This is the original version of the Internet Protocol, and it is still widely used today. IPv4 addresses are 32-bit numbers, which means they have four numbers separated by dots (e.g., 192.168.1.1).
2. IP version 6 (IPv6): This is a newer version of the Internet Protocol that is designed to provide more addresses than IPv4. IPv6 addresses are 128-bit numbers, which means they have eight groups of hexadecimal numbers separated by colons (e.g., 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334).

In summary, an IP address is a unique numerical label assigned to each device on a computer network, and it serves two main functions: identifying the device and routing data packets. There are two main types of IP addresses: IPv4 and IPv6.