IPv4 and IPv6 are comprehensive programs that assign IP addresses to devices. They have made it, so we do not have to manually input IP addresses for our devices. If we had to manually put in an IP address for our device every time we wanted to get out to the internet, it would be a hassle, but even though these protocols sound similar, they have some differences.
What is IPv4?
Ipv4, or Internet Protocol version 4, was made in 1980. This was the first IP that was made public, and it was made for SATNET (the Atlantic Packet Satellite Network). IPv4 gave us the ability to automatically assign an IP address to a device on a large scale. An example of an IP address would be 192.168.1.100 or 192.168.1.1, which is the default IP address for most routers. It assigns 32-bit addresses, but this limits the number of IP addresses that can be assigned. The maximum number of addresses that can be assigned for V4 is around 4.3 billion. This is a lot, but with an increasing population of more than 4.95 billion people who have access to the internet, we needed to find a solution.
What is IPv6?
IPv6 was the solution to version 4’s lack of IP addresses. It was created in December 1995 and was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). IPv6 was intended to replace IPv4 in 1998 but wasn’t made a protocol until July 14, 2017. IPv6 features a 128-bit address space that is capable of having 340 undecillion addresses! This is more than enough addresses to help with the growing number of people with internet access. An example of an IPv6 address would be 2345:0425:2CA1:0000:0000: 0567:5673:23b5. IPv6 uses hexadecimal, so reading the address is less of an eyesore. Without converting it to hexadecimal, it would look something like this:
Ipv6 also allows for greater handling of packets which is Data being transmitted to a specific area. This also helps in improving security because of the number of available IP addresses.
Why isn’t IPv6 the main protocol?
In short, IPv6 is a backup for IPv4. For example, if you are assigned an IP address like 192.168.100.100 and another device has that same IP, IPv6 will automatically give you an IPv6 address that is not already taken. Maybe in the future, when there are more devices and IoT (the Internet of Things), IPv6 will be the main protocol. Until then, IPv4 will still be in use.
