20-09-2017, 11:15 AM
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the latest version of Internet Protocol (IP) the communications protocol that provides an identification and localization system for computers in networks and traffic routes over the Internet. IPv6 was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to address the long-awaited problem of depletion of the IPv4 address. IPv6 is intended to replace IPv4.
Each device on the Internet is assigned a unique IP address for identifying and defining the location. With the rapid growth of the Internet after marketing in the 1990s, it became apparent that more directions would be required to connect devices than the available IPv4 address space. In 1998, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) had formalized the successor protocol. IPv6 uses a 128-bit address, theoretically allowing 2128, or approximately 3.4 × 1038 addresses. The actual number is slightly lower, as several ranges are reserved for special use or completely excluded from use. The total number of possible IPv6 addresses is more than 7.9 × 1028 times more than IPv4, which uses 32-bit addresses and provides approximately 4.3 million addresses. The two protocols are not designed to be interoperable, complicating the transition to IPv6. However, several IPv6 transition mechanisms have been devised to allow communication between IPv4 and IPv6 hosts.
IPv6 provides other technical benefits in addition to increased address space. In particular, it allows hierarchical address assignment methods that facilitate the aggregation of routes over the Internet and, therefore, limit the expansion of routing tables. The use of multicast addressing is extended and simplified, and provides additional optimization for the provision of services. The aspects of mobility, security and configuration of the device have been considered in the protocol design.
IPv6 addresses are represented as eight groups of four hexadecimal digits with groups separated by two points, for example 2001: 0db8: 0000: 0042: 0000: 8a2e: 0370: 7334, but there are methods to abbreviate this complete notation.
Each device on the Internet is assigned a unique IP address for identifying and defining the location. With the rapid growth of the Internet after marketing in the 1990s, it became apparent that more directions would be required to connect devices than the available IPv4 address space. In 1998, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) had formalized the successor protocol. IPv6 uses a 128-bit address, theoretically allowing 2128, or approximately 3.4 × 1038 addresses. The actual number is slightly lower, as several ranges are reserved for special use or completely excluded from use. The total number of possible IPv6 addresses is more than 7.9 × 1028 times more than IPv4, which uses 32-bit addresses and provides approximately 4.3 million addresses. The two protocols are not designed to be interoperable, complicating the transition to IPv6. However, several IPv6 transition mechanisms have been devised to allow communication between IPv4 and IPv6 hosts.
IPv6 provides other technical benefits in addition to increased address space. In particular, it allows hierarchical address assignment methods that facilitate the aggregation of routes over the Internet and, therefore, limit the expansion of routing tables. The use of multicast addressing is extended and simplified, and provides additional optimization for the provision of services. The aspects of mobility, security and configuration of the device have been considered in the protocol design.
IPv6 addresses are represented as eight groups of four hexadecimal digits with groups separated by two points, for example 2001: 0db8: 0000: 0042: 0000: 8a2e: 0370: 7334, but there are methods to abbreviate this complete notation.