What are IP addresses, ports, and proxy IPs

In this article, we mainly introduce the following:

• What is an IP address

• What is a port

• What is a proxy IP

• How do IP addresses, ports, and proxy IPs work together

• Application scenarios of proxy IP

What is an IP address?

An IP address is like a house number in everyone's home, which tells other devices on the Internet where your device is. Every device connected to the Internet has a unique IP address.

IP addresses usually have two formats:

- IPv4 address: This is the most common format, such as `192.168.1.1`, consisting of four groups of numbers, each ranging from 0 to 255.

- IPv6 address: Its address format is longer, such as `2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334`, which can provide an almost unlimited number of addresses.

What is a port?

A port is a "room number" in an IP address that allows your data to be accurately delivered to the target application or service. Just like the room number in a building, the port ensures that your information reaches the right "room".

The role of the port is to specify the specific purpose of the information, such as:

- Port 80: for web browsing (HTTP protocol).

- Port 443: for secure web browsing (HTTPS protocol).

- Port 25: for sending emails (SMTP protocol).

- Port 21: for file transfer (FTP protocol).

What is a proxy IP?

A proxy IP is an "intermediary" when you access the Internet. It hides your real IP address through a proxy server. The proxy server acts as an "intermediary" between you and the Internet, forwarding your request to the target server and returning the response to you.

For example: At a large conference, you need to pass a letter to another attendee. Instead of walking over directly, you hand the letter to the conference organizer and ask the organizer to pass it on your behalf. In this way, the person receiving the letter can only see the identity of the organizer, not your real identity.

How do IP addresses, ports, and proxy IPs work together?

1. Normal situation: When you visit a website, your browser sends a request to the IP address of the target website, using port 80 (or 443) to ensure that the request is delivered to the correct service. The website's server will respond to your request and then send the data back to your IP address.

2. Situation of using proxy IP: If you use a proxy IP, your request will actually be sent to the proxy server first. The proxy server will make the request on your behalf and receive the response. The target website sees the IP address of the proxy server instead of your real IP address. This method can hide your real identity, bypass geographical restrictions, or improve privacy protection.

Application scenarios of proxy IP

Ad Verification

Choosing lunaproxy, you can use real desktop and mobile IP addresses from any country or major city to run your ad verification quickly, smoothly and at scale worldwide

SEO

Monitor SERPs, audit websites and research your competitors without worries. With over 200 million anonymous residential IPs, you can forget about being blocked. luna residential proxies route through real desktop and mobile devices, allowing you to complete tasks faster than ever before. In addition, luna proxies have more than 195 locations around the world, allowing you to access the network from any country in the world.

Conduct market research

Market researchers need to collect competitor price information from different regions, but cannot collect all data from one region. Use multiple proxy IPs to access competitor websites from different regions. In this way, data from different regions can be obtained for market analysis.

The existence of proxy IP as a middleman not only provides users with anonymity and privacy protection, but also has a variety of rich usage scenarios. Together with IP ports, it constitutes the basic framework of network communication, ensuring smooth data transmission and effective access to services.