An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label assigned to each device (e.g., computer, printer) participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. [1] An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing . Its role has been characterized as follows: "A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how to get there." [2] The designers of the Internet Protocol defined an IP address as a 32-bit number [1] and this system, known as Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), is still in use today. However, because of the growth of the Internet and the predicted depletion of available addresses , a new version of IP ( IPv6 ), using 128 bits for the address, was developed in 1995. [3] IPv6 was standardized as RFC 2460 in 1998, [4] and its deployment has been ongoing since the mid-2000s. IP addresses are usually written and displ...
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