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Internet Protocol is the method, or protocol, by which data is sent from one computer to another via the Internet. Each computer connected to the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from other computers. When a user sends or receives data, for example an e-mail, the message is divided into small chunks or packets. Each packet contains the Internet address of both the sender and receiver. Packets are first sent to a gateway computer that understands a small part of the Internet. The gateway computer reads the destination address and forwards the packet to an adjacent gateway, which in turn reads the destination address and so forth across the Internet until one gateway recognizes the packet as belonging to a computer within its immediate domain. The gateway then forwards the packet directly to the specified computer. Since IP is a connectionless protocol, which means there is no constant connection between endpoints, each is treated as an independent unit of data without any relation to other units of data. Packets are put in the correct order through Transmission Communication Protocol (TCP), the connection-oriented protocol that keeps track of the packet sequence in a message.