Internet Protocol (IP) V4 Address

An IPv4 address is a 32-bit number that uniquely identifies a network interface used to connect a machine to the Internet or local area network. This is the fourth version of the Internet Protocol used for internetworking. An IPv4 address consists of four sets of numbers ranging from 0 to 255, which communicate the location of the device, router, and website.

Ubiquitous computing and proliferation of devices such as those created by mobile devices and the so called Internet of Things (IoT) depleted the over 4 billion IPv4 numbers in February 2011 which is known as IPv4 address exhaustion.

IP Addresses are mathematically calculated and assigned by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), which is a division of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).