IPv6 is the abbreviation of Internet Protocol version 6. It is the latest version of the internet protocol which addresses the limitations and challenges of IPV4.
IPv6 has been formulated by IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) which allows addressing the local systems in the network and entire online traffic while identifying the challenges caused due to IPv4. It is now in huge demand to overcome the problem faced by users due to IPv4 and its prolonged internet use across the world.
It is the network layer protocol through which communication takes place over the internet network. Every system has a specific IP address that is used to identify its location. In the past few decades, IPv4 could not be compatible with growing technologies and meet the demand for connecting multiple devices. This gave rise to the demand for IPv6. This is when the IETF has developed the draft standard for the next generation internet protocol IPv6 in the year 1998. It is now considered as an internet standard all over the world.
Limitations of IPv4 and the Importance of IPv6:
The depletion of IPv4 was caused due to multiple reasons including, but not limited rapid growth of internet users, inefficient address use, high usage of mobile devices as well and always-on devices such as cable modems. At that time, technology such as classless inter-domain routing, classful networks, and network address translation were created to combat the challenges of address depletion in Internet Protocol version 4. These technologies ultimately come up as a solution by employing improvements in the web’s address allocation as well as routing devices.
The development of IPv6, having 40 extended octets, allowed users to scale their protocol for future advancement without making changes in the core structure. This IPv6 packet has two parts, header and payload. Also, IPv6 introduced a game changer i.e Jumbogram that enabled the packet to tackle more than 2^32. It is highly useful to improve the performance over higher MTU (Maximum transmission limit) links while handling the payload.
Besides, IPv6 is equipped with a 128-bit address to a larger address space for more allocation. This 18-bit address is divided into 8 groups containing 16 bits. Also, IPv6 offers a host that is connected to the network having a specific identifier to the subnet.
The Benefits of IPv6 over Ipv4:
The additional address space in IPv6 made the depletion of IPv4 and eliminated the requirement for NAT (Network Address Translation). With IPv6, devices have their public IP that simplifies network configurations while facilitating direct end-to-end communications. The benefits of IPv6 over IPv4 are as follows-
- IPv6 provides a more efficient and simpler header than IPv4 header, that offers improved network performance and faster routing.
- Ipv6 offers built-in support for robust security using IPsec (Internet protocol security)
- It offers features for auto-configuration and mobility.
- It also includes SLAAC (Stateless address autoconfiguration).
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