IPv6 and IPv4
Many engineers called to get know about IPv6 & IPv4. IP (short for Internet Protocol) specifies the technical format of packets and the addressing scheme for computers to communicate over a network OR, An IP (Internet Protocol) Address is an alphanumeric label assigned to computers and other devices that connect to a network using an internet protocol. This address allows these devices to send and receive data over the internet. Every device that is capable of connecting to the internet has a unique IP address.
There are currently two version of
Internet Protocol (IP): IPv4 and
a new version called IPv6. IPv6
is an evolutionary upgrade to the Internet Protocol. IPv6 will coexist with the
older IPv4 for some time.
What is IPv4 (Internet
Protocol Version 4)?
IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4) is the fourth revision of the Internet Protocol (IP) used to to identify devices on a network through an addressing system. The Internet Protocol is designed for use in interconnected systems of packet-switched computer communication networks. IPV4 header format is of 20 to 60 bytes in length,
IPv4 is the most widely deployed Internet protocol used to connect devices to the Internet. IPv4 uses a 32-bit address scheme allowing for a total of 2^32 addresses (just over 4 billion addresses). With the growth of the Internet it is expected that the number of unused IPv4 addresses will eventually run out because every device -- including computers, smartphones and game consoles -- that connects to the Internet requires an address.
A new Internet addressing system
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is being deployed to fulfill the need for
more Internet addresses. IPV6 header format is of 40 bytes in
length
IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6)
is also called IPng (Internet Protocol next generation)
and it is the newest version of the Internet Protocol (IP) reviewed in
the IETF standards
committees to replace the current version of IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version
4).
IPv6 is the successor to Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4). It was designed as
an evolutionary upgrade to the Internet Protocol and will, in fact, coexist
with the older IPv4 for some time. IPv6 is designed to allow the Internet to
grow steadily, both in terms of the number of hosts connected and the total
amount of data traffic transmitted.
IPv6 is often referred to as the "next generation" Internet standard
and has been under development now since the mid-1990s. IPv6 was born out of
concern that the demand for IP addresses would exceed the available supply.
The
Benefits of IPv6
While increasing the pool of addresses
is one of the most often-talked about benefit of IPv6, there are other
important technological changes in IPv6 that will improve the IP protocol:
·
No
more NAT (Network Address Translation)
·
Auto-configuration
·
No
more private address collisions
·
Better
multicast routing
·
Simpler
header format
·
Simplified,
more efficient routing
·
True
quality of service (QoS), also called "flow labeling"
·
Built-in
authentication and privacy support
·
Flexible
options and extensions
·
Easier
administration (say good-bye to DHCP)
The
Difference Between IPv4 and IPv6 Addresses
An IP address is binary numbers but can be stored as text for human readers. For example, a 32-bit numeric address (IPv4) is written in decimal as four numbers separated by periods. Each number can be zero to 255. For example, 1.160.10.240 could be an IP address.
IPv6 addresses are 128-bit IP address
written in hexadecimal and separated by colons. An example IPv6 address could
be written like this: 3ffe:1900:4545:3:200:f8ff:fe21:67cf.
Did You Know...? IPv6 in the News: (April, 2017) MIT announced it would sell half of its 16 million valuable IPv4 addresses and use the proceeds of the sale to finance its own IPv6 network upgrades.