IPv6 is the second version of the Internet protocol, offering 3.4×1038 addresses due to its 128-bit format, with multicasting and built-in security. IPv6 is the future of internet addressing, designed for mobile devices and supporting unicast, anycast, and multicast.
IPv6 stands for Internet Protocol version 6. It is the second version of the Internet protocol to be used generally in the virtual world. The first version was IPv4. IPv5 was a protocol of a different kind, intended to support video and audio rather than general purpose addressing. IPv6 is also known as IPng, which stands for IP Next Generation.
One of the major updates in IPv6 is the number of addresses available for devices on the network. For example, every cell phone or other type of electronic device can have its own address. IPv6 allows 3.4×1038 addresses. This is mainly due to the number of bits in each protocol. IPv4 addresses contain 32 bits and therefore allow for up to four billion addresses. Version 6 addresses have 128 bits.
However, IPv4 is still the preferred protocol for most of the internet. The transition will be constant and IPv6 is the future of Internet addressing, mainly because industry experts believe they are close to running out of available addresses.
Another example of an IPv6 upgrade is multicasting, which is standard in this version but only optional in IPv4. Multicasting provides a stream of data to multiple destinations simultaneously, with no duplication unless required. These features are not supported by IPv4. The other two types of addressing that are standard practice for the latest version are unicast and anycast. The former is a transmission from one host to only one other host; the latter is from one host to the closest of many hosts.
IPv6 also has two other significant advantages over IPv4. It offers a higher level of built-in security and was specifically designed with mobile devices in mind. Security comes in the form of IPsec, which allows for authentication, encryption, and compression. Mobility comes in the form of Mobile IP, which allows roaming between different networks without losing an established IP address. Both of these features are requirements of IPv6 and therefore are designed to be integrated into every stack, address and network.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
