Internet networking

IP addresses, network addressing, routing, and forwarding are important and related concepts in Internet networking. An IP address is an identifier for a network node such as a PC, server, router, or bridge. Network addressing is the system used to assign these identifiers in convenient groups. Routing keeps track of where in the network these groups may be found. The results of the routing process is kept in a list called a routing table. Forwarding is the action of using the routing table to send a data packet to either the final destination or to the “next hop” which is closer to the destination.