The unique address of a computer or other device online. An IP address consists of several groups of numeric (IPv4) or alphanumeric (IPv6) characters. A public or external IP address identifies hardware connected to the Internet. An internal address is used to link devices to a local network. Several devices can operate on the Internet under one external IP address, yet have unique internal ones.
An IP address can be dynamic or static. The former is a temporary identifier, valid only for one network session.
It is issued to the device during authorization. Static IP addresses are tied to specific equipment and do not change on reconnection to the network.