IPv6
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About Internet Protocol (IP)
Internet Protocol is a set of technical rules that defines how computers communicate over a network. There are currently two versions: IP version 4 (IPv4) and IP version 6 (IPv6).
An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numeric identifier that includes information about how to reach a network location via the Internet routing system. Every device directly connected to the Internet must have an IP address, whether it is a home computer, a PDA, a router, or a web server. Every IP address must be unique for these devices to connect to the Internet and to each other.
There are two versions of Internet Protocol in use: IP version 4 (IPv4) and IP version 6 (IPv6).
IPv4 was the first version to be widely used, and still accounts for most of today’s Internet traffic. The total size of the IPv4 address pool is not expected to support the growing numbers of Internet devices. IPv6 provides a vastly bigger address pool. IPv6 will not replace IPv4 - both protocols are likely to be used together for the foreseeable future.
Each IPv4 address is 32 bits. Programs often format the number into a dotted decimal notation such as 192.0.2.0. Each byte is a number between 0 and 255.
An IPv6 address is 128 bits, usually written as eight groups of four hexadecimal characters, such as 2001:DB8:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000/32. A double colon (::) may replace sets of consecutive zeros, i.e. 2001:DB8::/32.
(credit : The American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN))
Why is it important to use IPv6?
The Internet Address Registry for Latin America and the Caribbean (LACNIC), the organisation reponsible for the allocation of IP resources is predicting that ipv4 addresses for the region will be used up by 2011. Other RIRs have expressed similiar concerns.
- LACNIC announces the imminent depletion of the IPv4 addresses
- IPv4 Address Report - updated daily - current projections is March 2010 for IANA to run out of IPv4 addresses to allocate to RIR and RIRs to exhaust their pool of IPv4 addresses by Nov 2010, barring any surge in demand.
- Wikipedia article on IPv4 address starvation -
Articles about IPv6
The education section on ARIN website has several one page PDFs on the following topics :
- About IP Addresses
- IPv4 and IPv6
- IP Addresses and Domain Names
- Internet Number Distribution
- Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) - these are nonprofit corporations established for the purpose of administration and registration of Internet Protocol (IP) address space and Autonomous System (AS) numbers. There is also a flash introduction to RIRs.
- Technical Fact Sheet (NRO Document) - this PDF file is a two page summary on IP addresses, and explains the concept of routing.
ICANN has released a 4 page factsheet covering IPv6.
ICANN Paris meeting
At the ICANN Paris meeting, the ALAC held a very well-attended workshop on the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 - "Internet end-users and the Transition from IPV4 to IPV6"
Here are some links to the session and documents on the Ipv6 transition:
- Workshop Wiki page - all presentations and the recording of the session are linked here.
OECD Ipv6 Report.pdf- MIC IPv4v6 SG Summary[1].pdf
- MIC IPv4v6SG Report.pdf
IPv6Workshop.zip Workshop presentations in zip format
Links to more information about ipv6 :
- Ars Technica "Everything you need to know about IPv6". Also see all Ars Technica articles on IPv6.
- Wikipedia article
- IPv6 portal
- go6 IPv6 portal
- Microsoft Windows IPv6 website - has detailed information about IPv6 and which Microsoft applications support IPv6. FWIW, Windows 9x does not have IPv6 support.
- Linux IPv6 HOWTO - provides the reader with enough information to install, configure, and use IPv6 applications on Linux machines.
- Apple MacOS X v10.3 "Panther" and above has IPv6 support
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