What is Internet
Protocol -- IP?
IP (short for Internet
Protocol)
specifies the technical format of packets and the addressing scheme for
computers to communicate over a network. Most networks combine
IP
with a higher-level protocol called Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), which
establishes a virtual connection between a destination and a source.
IP
by itself can be compared to something like the postal system. It allows you to
address a package and drop it in the system, but there's no direct link between
you and the recipient. TCP/IP, on the other hand, establishes a connection between
two hosts so that they can send messages back and forth for a period of time.
There
are currently two version of Internet Protocol (IP): IPv4 and a new version
called IPv6. IPv6 is an evolutionary upgrade to the Internet Protocol. IPv6
will coexist with the older IPv4 for some time.
What is IPv4 -- Internet
Protocol Version 4?
IPv4
(Internet Protocol Version 4) is the fourth revision of the Internet Protocol
(IP) used to identify devices on a network through an addressing system. The
Internet Protocol is designed for use in interconnected systems of packet-
switched computer communication networks (see RFC:791).
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 2^32
addresses (just over 4 billion addresses). 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.
A
new Internet addressing system Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is being
deployed to fulfill the need for more Internet addresses.
What is IPv6 -- Internet
Protocol Version 6?
IPv6
(Internet Protocol Version 6) is also called IPng (Internet Protocol next generation)
and it is the newest version of the Internet Protocol (IP) reviewed in the IETF
standards committees to replace the current version of IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version
4).
IPv6
is the successor to Internet Protocol Version 4 (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 designed to allow the Internet to grow
steadily, both in terms of the number of hosts connected and the total amount
of data traffic transmitted.
IPv6
is often referred to as the "next generation" Internet standard and
has been under development now since the mid-1990s. IPv6 was born out of
concern that the demand for IP addresses would exceed the available supply.
While
increasing the pool of addresses is one of the most often- talked about benefit
of IPv6, there are other important technological changes in IPv6 that will
improve the IP protocol:
1) No more NAT (Network
Address Translation)
2) Auto-configuration No more
private address collisions
3) Better multicast routing
4) Simpler header format
5) Simplified, more
efficient routing
6) True quality of service
(QoS), also called "flow labeling"
7) Built-in authentication
and privacy support
8) Flexible options and
extensions
9) Easier administration
(say good-bye to DHCP)
The Difference between
IPv6 and IPv4 IP Addresses
An
IP address is binary numbers but can be stored as text for human readers. For
example, a 32-bit numeric address (IPv4) 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.
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:fe21:67c
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