IP address
Numerical label used to identify a network interface in an IP network
Numerical label used to identify a network interface in an IP network
An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label, such as 192.168.1.1 or 2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334, that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses serve two main functions: network interface identification, and location addressing. Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) was the first standalone specification for the IP address, and has been in use since 1983. IPv4 addresses are defined as a 32-bit number, which later became too small to provide enough addresses as the internet grew, leading to IPv4 address exhaustion over the 2010s. Its designated successor, IPv6, uses 128 bits for the IP address, giving it a larger address space. Although IPv6 deployment has been ongoing since the mid-2000s, both IPv4 and IPv6 are still used side-by-side as of 2026, with IPv6 recently exceeding 50% globally after 18 years. IP addresses are usually displayed in a human-readable notation, but systems may...
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