Internet protocol, or IP as it is commonly known, is the key communication protocol in the internet protocol suite. It is responsible for transmitting datagrams or packets across network boundaries. It also has routing capabilities to set up work on the internet, this is how the internet is formed.

IP ensures that packets are delivered from the source end user to the target end user according to the internet protocol addresses in the packet header. The first version of the internet protocol, still the most widely used, is internet protocol version 4 (IPv4). A newer version that has seen an increase in distribution since 2006 is called internet protocol version 6 (IPv6).

The Internet protocol is responsible for addressing host interfaces, encapsulating data into data units, and routing data units over connectionless networks. Each datagram has a payload and a header.

The header contains the source address, destination address, and other data related to transporting the datagram to the appropriate destination. The payload is the data being moved. Placing the payload and header in a datagram is called encapsulation. Internet protocol ensures the best delivery of datagrams.