One-stop website explains everything you need to know about the new Internet protocol, IPv6

The RIPE NCC, the not-for-profit organisation that supports the infrastructure of the Internet, launches the IPv6 Act Now website today. With an Internet community position statement on IPv6 supported by over 800 organisations, the website explains the new Internet protocol in terms that everyone can understand. It also urges adoption of IPv6 by all organisations integral to the Internet’s infrastructure.

What is IPv4?

Internet Protocol version four, or IPv4, is a system of addresses used to identify devices on a network. Originally described in 1981 in RFC791, IPv4 is the most widely used Internet layer protocol, and at this point is used by the vast majority of users to connect to the Internet.

IPv4 addresses are actually 32-bit numbers. This means that there are 232, or just over four billion, possible addresses. Over time, however, it has become clear that more addresses than this will be required to ensure ongoing growth of the Internet. The unused pool of IPv4 addresses is predicted run out in the next two years, so an alternative is required.

When the IPv4 pool is exhausted, will the Internet stop working?

No. The exhaustion of the IPv4 free pool does not mean that the Internet will cease to work. All of the IPv4 addresses that are in use will still operate as they always have.

What is meant by IPv4 exhaustion?

The “pool” of available IPv4 addresses is almost empty. IPv4 addresses are 32-bit numerical addresses, for example, 10.142.131.235. There are 232, or just over four billion, unique IPv4 addresses. As of 2009, most of these four billion IPv4 addresses had been allocated for use or reserved for a specific technical purpose.

What is IPv6?

Internet Protocol version six, or IPv6, is an Internet layer protocol developed in the 1990s (and described in RFC2460) as an alternative to IPv4. Rather than using a 32-bit system, IPv6 is based on 128-bit addresses, meaning that there are 2128 individual addresses available, which is approximately 3.4×1038, and exactly:

340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456

IPv6 provides enough addresses to allow the Internet to continue to expand and the industry to innovate. It is not, however, directly compatible with IPv4, meaning that a device connected via IPv4 cannot communicate directly with a device connected using IPv6.

Deploying IPv6 on a global scale is vital to the Internet industry, but it requires pro-active steps on the part of industry players: technology must be upgraded, staff trained, business plans developed. Uptake to date has been relatively slow, but this is now changing, and businesses need to be aware of the need to adopt IPv6. To ignore IPv6 is to risk your medium to long term business viability.

Read more at IPv6 Act Now which has a wealth of information on IPV6 and the need to transition to IPV6.

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