by D. Vogt

Created on: August 04, 2010

IPv6, or International Protocol version 6, is the planned successor to the current IPv4 system of allocating IP addresses to computers connected to the Internet around the world. Briefly, all computers connecting to the Internet must possess a unique identification number, known as an IP address and essentially analogous to a telephone number. However, the current IPv4 system of IP numbers possesses only about 4 billion addresses, and most of these have now been claimed by service providers around the world. IPv6 is a new system which introduces much larger address numbers, so that many more devices will be able to connect to the Internet at the same time.

- The Coming IPv4 Crisis -

All computers on the Internet must have a unique number so that they can send and receive information to, at least potentially, any other computer on the Internet. For years, these numbers were designated through the fourth version of the Internet protocol (IPv4), which designated computers according to four numbers between 0 and 255 (for instance, 62.79.86.255). Some ranges within this were reserved for a variety of purposes, so that in practice slightly less than the theoretical maximum of about 4.3 billion unique IP addresses could be in use at any given time.

Four billion unique addresses, however, is not enough to cope with the rising demand for new technology. The central address agency, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), parcels out groups of 16.8 million addresses at a time through the Regional Internet Registries in North America (ARIN0, Europe (RIPE NCC), Asia and Australia (APNIC), and Africa (AfriNIC). There are 221 such blocks of addresses on the Internet, of which 205 have already been given out. Moreover, IANA has already agreed that when it is down to the last five, it will give one to each of the regional registries. This means there are sixteen blocks of unused space left, and we are continuing to allocate them at a little over one block per month. Once all IPv4 addresses have been sold, probably sometime next year, it does not actually mean they are in use yet - but it does mean that IP addresses will stop being a routine technical detail and start becoming prized, expensive real estate.

- About IPv6 -

The basic protocols at the heart of the Internet have more than proven their worth - indeed, the only real problem (but it is not at all a small problem) is that IPv4 is simply running out of numbers. IPv6 makes two basic changes to allow much larger

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