What is ip address

 An IP address is a long string of numbers assigned to every device connected to a network that uses Internet Protocol as the medium for communication; it’s the digital world’s equivalent of the mailing address associated with your home or workplace.

The way Internet Protocol works is that information is transmitted over the network in discrete chunks called packets; each packet is mostly made up of whatever data the sender is trying to communicate, but also includes a header, consisting of metadata about that packet.

Among other pieces of data stored in the packet header are the IP address of the device that sent the packet and the IP address of device where the packet is heading. Routers and other network infrastructure use this information to make sure the packets get to where they’re supposed to go.