The Internet[2] Protocol (IP) is a principal technology[1] that drives the internet. It's a set of rules that govern data transmission across a network. IP is responsible for addressing host interfaces, encapsulating data into packets called 'datagrams', and routing these datagrams across networks. It uses a specific packet format and addressing system. An integral part of its function is to source and destination IP addresses. The IP has seen multiple versions, including IPv4 and IPv6, with the latter introducing larger 128-bit addresses. The IP aims to provide 'best-effort delivery', despite being characterized as unreliable due to network infrastructure. It also plays a role in managing link capacity and data transmission, including the size of data packets. Over the years, security[3] and development have become significant aspects of IP, with continuous efforts to address vulnerabilities and propose advancements.
The Internet Protocol (IP) is the network layer communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function enables internetworking, and essentially establishes the Internet.
IP has the task of delivering packets from the source host to the destination host solely based on the IP addresses in the packet headers. For this purpose, IP defines packet structures that encapsulate the data to be delivered. It also defines addressing methods that are used to label the datagram with source and destination information.
IP was the connectionless datagram service in the original Transmission Control Program introduced by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn in 1974, which was complemented by a connection-oriented service that became the basis for the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). The Internet protocol suite is therefore often referred to as TCP/IP.
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), which has been in increasing deployment on the public Internet since around 2006.