General Definition of IP (Internet Protocol)

In simple terms IP is Short name for Internet Protocol, which designates the format of "data packets" that are used to exchange information over the Internet.

An IP address is a unique number, akin to a telephone number, used by machines (usually computers) to refer to each other when sending information through the Internet using the Internet Protocol. This allows machines passing the information onwards on behalf of the sender to know where to send it next, and for the machine receiving the information to know that it is the intended destination.

An example IP address is 216.109.112.135. Converting to such numbers from the more human-readable form of domain addresses, such as www.yahoo.com is done via the Domain Name System. The process of conversion is known as resolution of the domain name.

Term Called NAT or network address translation which is also known as network masquerading or IP-masquerading. NAT is a technique in which the source and/or destination addresses of IP packets are rewritten as they pass through a router or firewall. It is most commonly used to enable multiple hosts on a private network to access the Internet using a single public IP address. According to specifications, routers should not act in this way, but it is a convenient and widely-used technique. Nonetheless, NAT can introduce complications in communication between hosts.

There is a process called IP aliasing which is the process of adding more than one IP address to a network interface. With this, one node on a network can have multiple connections to a network, each serving a different purpose.

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