What is an IP address?

An IP or Internet Protocol address is a form of identification used for different devices on a network communicating over TCP/IP connections. An IP address will generally consist of 4 separate numbers (0-255) separated with decimal points, such as the following:

192.168.92.68

The IP address consists of two parts, the network address and the host address, used to identify the network and the unique device on the network. The network address precedes the host address and can be represented by the first number, first and second, first through third, or in some cases all four. This all depends on what's called the subnet mask. The network address must be shared between all devices on the same network. For example, there are three devices represented by the following IP addresses:

192.168.1.10

192.168.1.250

1.168.1.10

Assuming the network address is defined by the first three numbers, the first two devices would be on the same network but the third would not.

The host address is what's left of the IP address, so looking at the three given above, the host address is defined by the last number. The host address must be unique to each device on the network because it serves as an identifier for each device.