Essential Concepts - IPv4 and IPv6

What are IPv4 and IPv6 ?

IPv4 and IPv6 are two generations of Internet Protocols where IPv4 stands for Internet Protocol version 4 and IPv6 for Internet Protocol version 6. 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 (see RFC:791).

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 users will increase. And eventually the number of users will be more than 4 billion at the same time. Hence. the 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.

 

What is IPv6 -- Internet Protocol Version 6 ?

IPv6 is more advanced and has better features compared to IPv4. It has the capability to provide an infinite number of addresses. It is replacing IPv4 to accommodate the growing number of networks worldwide and help solve the IP address exhaustion problem. IPv6 was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

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 uses a 128-bit address scheme, allowing a total of 2^128 addresses (infinite). Increasing the pool of addresses is one of the most often-talked about benefit of IPv6.

The Difference Between IPv6 and IPv4 IP Addresses

An IP address is binary numbers but can be stored as text for human readers.

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