An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is a unique numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. It serves two main functions: identifying the host or network interface and providing the location of the host in the network¹².

Types of IP Addresses

IPv4

IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) is the original version of the Internet Protocol, defined as a 32-bit number. It is typically written in dot-decimal notation, consisting of four decimal numbers separated by dots, e.g., 192.0.2.1. IPv4 addresses are limited to approximately 4.3 billion unique addresses¹².

IPv6

IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) was developed to address the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses. It uses 128 bits for the IP address, allowing for a vastly larger number of unique addresses. IPv6 addresses are written as eight groups of four hexadecimal digits separated by colons, e.g., 2001:db8::1¹².

Classification of IP Addresses