Home ⮚ Knowledge Base ⮚ Cloud Technology /

IP Address: What Is It? How Does it Work & Types?

Written By Ananaya Kandpal

Published On January 21, 2026

Reading time: 4 minutes

Do you use Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy, or any quick commerce platform that promises 10-minute delivery? Almost everyone. But imagine a scenario where the delivery partner does not have the recipient’s address. Would it be possible to deliver the order? No, right?

(However, the Labour Ministry heightened the issue during a recent meeting with representatives from the three major companies, asking them to stop promoting the business as a 10-minute service).

The same logic applies to computers and devices on a network. Every time a laptop opens a website or a smartphone sends a message, it requires a clear way to identify where the data should go. This is where an IP address comes in. Much like a home address helps people find the accurate location, an IP address enables devices to send and receive data accurately, securely, and without confusion.

In this post, we are going to take you through IP address ranges, their functionalities, and technicalities, and how they have revolutionized networking.

What is an IP Address?

An Internet Protocol (IP) address refers to the unique identifying number assigned to each device connected to the Internet. An IP address definition is a numeric label assigned to devices that use the Internet to communicate. Computers that communicate over the internet or through local networks share information to a specific location using IP addresses.

IP addresses have two distinct versions or standards. The Internet Protocol version 4 address is the older of the two, which has space for up to 4 billion IP addresses and is assigned to all computers. The latest Internet Protocol version 6 has space for trillions of IP addresses, which accounts for the new breed of devices in addition to computers.

How Does IP Address Work?

An IP address generally works in assisting your device, whatever you are accessing the internet on, to find whatever data or content is located to enable its retrieval. Common tasks for an IP address include both the identification of a host or a network, and identifying the location of a device.

An IP address is not random. The creation of an IP address belongs to the origin of math. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority distributes IP addresses and their creation. The full range of IP addresses can go from 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255. With the mathematical assignment of an IP address, a unique identification to make a connection to a destination can be made.

Types of IP Addresses

Public IP Address: A public IP address, or external-facing IP address, is assigned to the main device people use to connect their business or home internet to their internet service provider.
Private IP Address: A private IP address is assigned by an office or home intranet to devices or by the internet service provider. The home/office router handles the private IP addresses of the devices that connect to it from within that local network. Network devices are mapped from their private IP addresses to public IP addresses by the router.
Static IP Address: Every public and private address has a static or dynamic definition. Static IP addresses are those that an individual manually configures and updates on their device's network. It is not possible to automatically modify a static IP address. A user account may be given a static IP address by an internet service provider. For each session, that user will be given the same IP address.
Dynamic IP Address: When a router is configured, a network is automatically given a dynamic IP address. This dynamic set of IP addresses is distributed by the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). The router that supplies IP addresses to networks throughout a house or business may be the DHCP.