What is IP Protocol

What is IP Protocol 2L9k8eC

The Internet Protocol (IP) is the protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet. Each computer (known as a host) on the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers on the Internet.

The Internet Protocol (IP)  is the principal communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for providing delivery mechanism for packets of data sent between all network devices on the internet. The IP protocol is the central unifying protocol in the TCP/IP protocol suite. The first major version of IP, Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), is the dominant protocol of the Internet. Its successor is Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6).

Internet Protocol (IP) is a connection-less protocol that provides IP addressing and routing functions. Routing consists of forwarding IP packets from source to destination machines over a network, based on their IP addresses.

An IP address is a unique address identifying a machine (which can be a computer, a server, an electronic device, a router, a phone etc.) on a network, thus serving for routing and forwarding IP packets from source to destination.

An IP Packet is a packet of data which carries a data load and an IP header. Any piece of data (TCP packets, in the case of a TCP/IP network) is broken into bits and placed into these packets and transmitted over the network.

Once the packets reach their destination, they are reassembled into the original data.

The IP protocol by it self does not guarantee to deliver data correctly. The IP protocol does try to protect the packets IP header the relatively small part of the each packet that controls how packet is moved through the network. It does this by calculating a checksum on the header fields and including that checksum in the transmitted packet. Packets whose checksums no longer match must have been damage in some how and are simply discarded.

What is TCP/IP Protocol Suite