IP Address Meaning: What Does 'IP' Actually Stand For?

We figured that most visitors to WhatIsMyIPAddress.com don’t know a lot about IP topics — and why would they? For the most part, only people involved in IT (information technology) and computer networking need to think about what the IP in IP address stands for. Still, sometimes the terminology and jargon used (and rarely explained) prevents us from understanding some cool computer stuff. And although most of us don’t really care (or need) to learn more, others like being enlightened, instead of being left in the dark. First things first: “IP” stands for “Internet Protocol.” Internet Protocol is a set of rules that determine how data is moved over the internet. While there are many kinds of protocols used on the web for parsing different kinds of data, “Internet Protocol” actually names a specific system that was developed in 1974 and is now in version six, or IPv6. The Internet Protocol is important because it helps devices communicate with each other over the Internet. It’s like a language, with set rules and guidelines that all devices can use to send, find, and exchange information with each other. Your device connects to a network, like your home network or a company network, which is connected to the internet. IP has several protocols that run alongside it, like Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). While IP is responsible for sending the data, TCP is responsible for putting the data back together in the right order before it reaches its destination. DHCP is the set of rules that assigns an IP address to devices and networks. IP addresses are dynamic, so there have to be standards for how they get assigned in order for data to be transferred over the network. The average user will see this used most often in the term “IP address,” which is why the rest of this quick guide will discuss what IP addresses are and why they matter. An IP address is a series of numbers that identifies a particular network or device on the internet. An IP address is like a physical address or a telephone number. When you want to send someone mail or contact them by phone, you need their address or phone number to reach them. Similarly, when you want to send data over the internet to someone else, you need their IP address. But you don’t have to keep a list of IP addresses saved in your address book or contacts list. Through the magic of browsers and email clients, finding a webpage or sending mail only requires that you type the website’s name into your browser or you hit “send” on the message in your email client. If the device on the other end is connected to the internet, it will have an IP address and it’ll receive the data you sent. There are two types of IP addresses: IPv4 and IPv6. IPv4 was the first version of IP addresses that was developed, and we’ve been using it since 1983. However, we realized that the IPv4 system for generating IP addresses will eventually make us run out of IP addresses to assign . People didn’t realize how big the Internet would get back in 1983. IPv6 was developed to resolve this problem and ensure we have enough IP addresses, but IPv6 still isn’t widely used throughout the world. With the IPv6 system, our number of IP addresses should basically be infinite. Managing an IP address block becomes crucial for large organizations to ensure they have sufficient addresses for all devices, including networked printers. Wondering why this is important? Because knowing your printer IP address helps in troubleshooting and network configuration. Read our guide to IP addresses if you want to learn more about what an IP address is and what it does. These quick facts about Internet Protocol and IP addresses will help you learn more about what they are and how they work: Internet Protocol, or IP, may be the most important software you don’t need to know about. It basically runs the internet that we rely on everyday, but most of us will only need to know about it when looking for our IP address, or the place where the internet can find our device.