In anticipation of the impending demise of IP addresses,
the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has produced a comprehensive set
of specifications that define the next-generation IP protocol known as IP
version 6 (IPv6). IPv6 is designed as a successor to IP version 4 (IPv4) which
is currently in use.
Most of today’s Internet uses IPv4, and there is
a growing shortage of IPv4 addresses. Some believe that we will run out of
IPv4 addresses by 2008.
IPv6 comes with a 128-bit address space and provides for
3.4 times 10 raised to the power of 38 addresses (3.4 x 1038), which translates
to 340 undecillion (10 to the power of 36) addresses.
IPv6 is designed to run well on high performance networks
(for example, Gigabit Ethernet and ATM), and still be efficient for low bandwidth
networks (example, wireless). In addition, it provides a platform for new
Internet functionality.
IPv6 is gaining popularity in countries such as China,
Japan and Korea. The Japanese and Chinese governments have fixed deadlines
for complete migration to IPv6 by 2005.
