Wednesday, June 6, 2012
We've been using Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) for years, and IP address space has just about run out.
The Internet Society provides more explanation:
"Each host, computer or other device connected to the Internet must be identified by a unique IP address. IPv4 has approximately four billion IP addresses (the sequence of numbers assigned to each Internet-connected device). The explosion in the number of people, devices, and web services on the Internet means that IPv4 is running out of space.
"IPv6, the next-generation Internet protocol which provides more than 340 trillion, trillion, trillion addresses, will connect the billions of people not connected today, allow a huge range of devices to connect directly with one another, and help ensure the Internet can continue its current growth rate indefinitely."
Websites moving to IPv6 will continue to support access over IPv4 -- the World IPv6 Launch will simply introduce IPv6 in parallel to IPv4. Soon, however, websites will launch that are IPv6 only.
You can check here to see if your Internet Service Provider (ISP) has provided you with IPv6 yet.
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