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What You Need to Know about IPv6

Written by Audra Oliver | 03-Feb-2015 16:08:00

Since the 1990’s, we have known that the Internet will eventually run out of IPv4 addresses (Internet Protocol Version 4). As such, the Internet Engineering Task Force, an organisation that develops Internet technologies, developed IPv6 to accommodate the growing number of users and devices accessing the Internet.

 

However switching from IPv4 to IPv6 isn't an easy task, even though modern operating systems and networking kit support both protocols, a device configured with a single IPv6 address cannot directly talk to a device with an IPv4 address, and vice versa.

 

So should you be freaking out? Are you going to have to buy all new devices, or get them reconfigured?

 

Well maybe, it depends how old they are… but most likely all the devices you have are already IPv4 and IPv6 enabled. To put your mind at ease, you can check your device here, and learn a bit more from the facts below:

 

1. What would happen without IPv6? Without it, the web could no longer grow. A lack of IP addresses would mean that eventually your favourite Internet programmes and applications could slow down or stop working, Internet-connected devices and sensors would have a harder time communicating with each other (making the ability to offer services like voice and video difficult), and privacy could be compromised due to shared IPv4 addresses.

 

2. The numbers: IPv6 has 2 to the power of 128 (340 undecillion, 282 decillion, 366 nonillion, 920 octillion, 938 septillion, 463 sextillion, 463 quintillion, 374 quadrillion, 607 trillion, 431 billion, 768 million, 211 thousand and 456) IP addresses. This is more than the number of stars in the universe, or more than the number of cells in a human body. We could assign an IPv6 address to every atom on the surface of the earth and still have plenty left over. This is enough for a long time, so you won’t see this problem again.

 

3. What you can expect: Although IPv6 appears to be superior to IPv4 in many respects, it is a likely that the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 will take up to 10 years, and will be difficult. Many organisations have made an enormous investment in IPv4 technology and are not yet ready or willing to speed up the transition.

 

4. What you can do: According to the Internet Society there are several ways to get started deploying IPv6:

 

• Ensure all networking equipment (including planned purchases) is IPv6 capable. Even if you are not deploying IPv6 today, your equipment must be IPv6-ready, otherwise you may need to upgrade or re-purchase devices later.

• If you are a business, make sure all your networking equipment (and ISP) supports IPv6.

• If you are a content creator or developer, you can make your own websites and content available over IPv6.

• If you work for a government body, you can require IPv6 compliance of all contractors and business relationships… and lead by example in deploying IPv6 across all websites and services.

 

And in case you are really lost, or need some advice, you can make sure you have what you need for IPv6 and beyond with VTSL by clicking below for a free consultative call back.