IP address (internet protocol address) in a simple language is a personal address of a computer or any other electronic device. Internet protocol address help computers and electronic devices to communicate with each other on a network. IP address is a 32 bit number which sends and receives information on the internet. When ever you are surfing internet, sending email or responding to any other message the information is being sent online in packets. The server who is receiving your messages or requests also receives your internet protocol address. An address is divided in to two parts. The first part indicates the network and second indicates the identity of a device.
Actually internet is a net of interconnected networks which identify each other with the help of unique addresses. An internet address is expressed as four decibel numbers which are separated by numbers. Each number in the address represents eight bits. There are two types of internet protocol addresses known as static and dynamic.
If you have received an email you can easily find the protocol address of the user who sent this mail if a person is not hiding his address behind a free proxy server. If a person uses an anonymous proxy server then his real address will be replaced by the address of the proxy server. Many people hide their address behind a free proxy server and exchange information anonymously duet to some internet security reasons. Not all the servers allow you to hide your internet protocol address so if you are hiding your address you will not be able to connect to all the servers.