An Internet Protocol address ( IP address ) is a numerical label assigned to each device (e.g., computer, printer) participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. [ 1 ] An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing . Its role has been characterized as follows: " A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how to get there. " [ 2 ] The designers of the Internet Protocol defined an IP address as a 32-bit number [ 1 ] and this system, known as Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), is still in use today. However, due to the enormous growth of the Internet and the predicted depletion of available addresses , a new version of IP ( IPv6 ), using 128 bits for the address, was developed in 1995. [ 3 ] IPv6 was standardized as RFC 2460 in 1998, [ 4 ] and its deployment has been ongoing since the mid-2000s. IP addresses are binar...