IP address IP number Static IP address Dynamic IP address Private IP address Public IP address ISP Internet Protocol TCP/IP Web Browser Operating System Internet Security Host Hide my IP
What is the Internet Protocol?
The Internet Protocol (IP) is a method or protocol by which
data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet.
Each computer on the Internet has at least one IP address that
uniquely identifies it from all other computers on the Internet.
When you send or receive data (for example, an e-mail note or a Web
page), the message gets divided into little chunks called packets.
Each of these packets contains both the sender's Internet address
and the receiver's address. Any packet is sent first to a gateway
computer that understands a small part of the Internet.
The gateway computer reads the destination address and forwards the
packet to an adjacent gateway that in turn reads the destination
address and so forth across the Internet until one gateway
recognizes the packet as belonging to a computer within its
immediate neighborhood or domain. That gateway then forwards the
packet directly to the computer whose address is specified.
Because a message is divided into a number of packets, each packet can, if necessary, be sent by a different route across the Internet. Packets can arrive in a different order than the order they were sent in. The Internet Protocol just delivers them. It's up to another protocol, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to put them back in the right order.
Related: Static
IP, Dynamic IP,
Internet
Security
IP-a
User Login