IPv6 vs IPv4 – UPSC GS3

The Internet Protocol (IP) specifies the technical format of packets and the addressing scheme for computers to communicate over a network.

IPv4 is the fourth revision of the IP used to identify devices on a network through an addressing system. IPv4 is the most widely deployed Internet protocol used to connect devices to the Internet.

IPv4 uses a 32-bit address scheme allowing for a total of 2³² addresses (just over 4 billion addresses) and is written in decimal as four numbers separated by periods. Each number can be zero to 255. For example, 1.160.10.240 could be an IP address.

With the growth of the Internet it is expected that the number of unused IPv4 addresses will eventually run out because every device including computers, smartphones and game consoles that connects to the Internet requires an address.

IPv6 is also called IPng (Internet Protocol next generation) and it is the newest version of the Internet Protocol (IP) reviewed in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards committees to replace the current version of IPv4.

It was designed as an evolutionary upgrade to the Internet Protocol and will, in fact, coexist with the older IPv4 for some time. IPv6 is often referred to as the next generation Internet standard and has been under development now since the mid-1990s.

IPv6 addresses are 128-bit IP address written in hexadecimal and separated by colons. An example IPv6 address could be written like this: 3ffe:1900:4545:3:200:f8ff:fe21:67cf. IPv6 was born out of concern that the demand for IP addresses would exceed the available supply.