Internet Protocol (IP) address

A unique address that devices use to identify and communicate with each other on a network using the Internet Protocol (IP) standard. Any network device, including a computer, a printer, or a server, has its own unique address. An IP address identifies each sender or receiver of information that is sent in packets across the Internet. Each client station and each server station must have a unique IP address. An IP address is written as numbers that are separated by periods. An example of an Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) address is 204.171.64.2. An example of an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) address is 3FFE:2900:D005:1001:12AA:10FF:FE28:9C5A.