What is an IP Address? Understanding IP Addresses

Within the context of computer networking, an IP address is the identification that Internet Protocol assigns to every device that connects to the internet. An IP is much like a digital home address which every other device uses to converse and exchange information with it.

An IP address is just a set of numbers. Unlike encrypted data, this label is legible and readable, in fact, it was designed to make the process of operating on a network smooth and seamless. As a matter of fact, were it not for these addresses, there wouldn’t be any communication over the internet between different devices. The whole infrastructure of the internet is based on IP addresses to keep the data circulating between millions of devices, every second.

Overview IP addresses come in two major types: IPv4 and IPv6.

Currently, two major kinds of IP addresses are used: IPv4 and IPv6.

  • IPv4 is short for Internet Protocol Version 4. It was the first of its kind to ever reach high deployment, based on a 32-bit numbering system. As more and more people and devices connected online, the addresses became insufficient over time.
  • IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6): The shortcomings of IPv4 called for the development of IPv6, which was developed in the late 1990s. With a 128-bit system, IPv6 contains a huge pool of addresses, ready to support internet expansion for the foreseeable future. In recent years, IPv6 adoption has grown steadily. Though both are in use today.

Static and Dynamic IP Addresses

There are primarily two types of IP addresses: static and dynamic.

  • Static IP Addresses do not change and are permanent. They usually serve for servers or such devices that operate by means of a fixed address.
  • Dynamic IP Addresses: Most devices use dynamic IPs, which are temporary and change over a certain period. These are assigned by the ISP and are flexible, yet cheaper and easier to manage.

Why IP Addresses Matter in Networking

IP addresses play two giant roles:

  • Finding the host: The IP address provides a way for one given device to locate another device, called a host, on the network.
  • IP Routing: The IP address is an important entity as far as routing of data packets is concerned. The sender and recipient IP addresses take part in the header information of the data packet, helping it to find a way across the network towards its intended destination.

That is to say, the IP address is an electronic “address” of a device on a network. It’s how information routed from one device gets to get to another, which enables the internet to work as seamlessly as it does now.

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