04.11.01
When the internet was first concieved, the thought that
more than four
billion Internet Protocol addresses (IP addresses) could
be used
seemed ludricous. Now, with the internet growing at the
rate that it
is, we have gotten to the point where we are almost out
of available
IP addresses. Does this mean that we will have to reserve
and
schedule internet access time in the future? Not likely.
Read on and
enjoy.
Jay Fougere
NetworkNewz Editor
How IPv6 Might Help You
IPv6 is version 6 of the Internet Protocol and is also
known as "IP Next Generation"(IPng). It has
been in development since the early '90's and is beginning
to see the light of day.
So why do we need a new implementation of the Internet
Protocol? In a nutshell, we will soon run out of addresses.
IP has been around for almost 30 years and in recent
times has become a standard. Coupled with the growth
of the internet, this has led to a rapidly declining
number of available addresses and it has been predicted
that we will run out of addresses in the year 2010.
Many would venture that it will be sooner than this.
IPv4 only supports an address space of 4,294,967,296
while IPng supports addresses which are four times the
number of bits as IPv4 addresses and provides for a
theoretical limit of 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456
addresses! In addition, IPv6 attempts to make network
addressing easier.
Another pressing reason for the upgrade is that with
the new internet
and network applications are being developed that require
modern
methods of delivery, routing and security. IP has not
been
substantially modified since 1981 and a lot has happened
technologically since then.
Many people may not be aware that IPng is already in
use today,
although on a fairly small scale. An increasing number
of softare
manufacturers are providing support for IPv6 as of today
despite the
fact that it is not yet being used on a wide basis.
Translation has
been developed for compatibility with current standards
which allows
IPv6 and IPv4 networks to communicate by translating
packet headers
as they cross between IPv4 and IPv6 networks.
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