A communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic across the Internet. The Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP). IPv6 was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to deal with the long-anticipated problem of IPv4 address exhaustion and was intended to replace IPv4. In December 1998, IPv6 became a Draft Standard for the IETF, which subsequently ratified it as an Internet Standard on 14 July 2017.
IPv6 Address Format
An IPv6 address is a 128-bit numerical address that consists of eight 16-bit blocks separated by colons. Each block of an IPv6 address can have a value between 0 and 65535, which allows for a virtually unlimited number of unique addresses. IPv6 addresses can be written in full notation (e.g., 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334) or in shorthand notation using hexadecimal notation (e.g., 2001:db8:85a3::8a2e:370:7334).
- Adoption: IPv6 is gradually being adopted as more devices are connected to the internet and the demand for unique addresses increases.
Benefits of IPv6
IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses, which allows for a virtually unlimited number of unique addresses. This addresses the shortage of available IPv4 addresses, which only provided approximately 4 billion (232) addresses.
- Address space: The 128-bit address space of IPv6 provides a vast number of unique addresses, ensuring that the Internet can continue to grow and accommodate new devices.
