An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is a unique numerical identifier assigned to every device connected to a network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. It serves two main functions: identifying a device on a network and determining its location to facilitate data transfer. There are two primary versions of IP addresses: IPv4 and IPv6. IPv4 uses a 32-bit address format, typically written in dotted decimal notation (e.g., 192.168.1.1), and supports approximately 4.3 billion unique addresses. Due to address exhaustion, IPv6 was introduced, using a 128-bit address format written in hexadecimal notation (e.g., 2001:0db8:85a3::8a2e:0370:7334), providing an almost unlimited number of addresses with improved security and efficiency. Learn more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Address