Internet Protocol (IP)
The Internet Protocol (IP) is a fundamental set of rules that governs how data is sent and received over the Internet or any other network.
- is a network protocol
- is the core protocol in IP
- provides network and host addressing and packet forwarding between networks
- enables internetworking
- is a connectionless protocol
- each packet is independent and can take different routes
- IP packet adds headers to whatever transport/application layer data it is carrying in its payload
- Two most important header fields:
- source
- destination
- Two most important header fields: