Internet Protocol (IP) is the main protocol (set of procedures) for moving data between linked computers. It ranks as one of the most fundamental of the many networking protocols that make the Internet possible.
The Internet Protocol requires every machine connected to the Internet to have an IP address. An IP address is a sequence of numbers separated by dots—such as 192.168.0.1—that uniquely identifies a particular device. There are billions of IP addresses. Personal computers connected to the Internet have IP addresses, as do such mobile Internet-connected devices as tablets and smartphones. Internet-connected server computers run by businesses, governments, and scientific organizations have IP addresses as well. Much of the information on websites is stored on such server computers. Computers called Domain Name System (DNS) servers match a site’s domain name, such as worldbook.com, to the IP address of the machine on which the site is stored.
To send a message or computer file via the Internet Protocol, computers break the data up into smaller packets. Each packet contains part of the data along with the IP addresses of the devices from which and to which the message or file is being sent. Packets travel separately, forwarded from one computer to another by devices called routers. The various packets may arrive at the final destination duplicated, damaged, out of order, or they might never arrive at all. Another protocol, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), fixes these problems, reassembling the packets into the original message or file. Working together, TCP and IP form the basis of the Internet’s operating procedure, sometimes called the TCP/IP protocol suite.
See also Internet ; Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) .
