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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/jean-marc_astesana/2640346196/ |
IPv4 vs. IPv6
Over 70% of Americans spend time online surfing the web! So it's not too hard to conceive the fact that IP addresses are running out. This is largely due to the fact that more and more people are able to connect to the Internet everyday. Even in small remote countries that many of us may not even know exist they are able to connect to the Internet thanks to satellites and advancements in remote location connections. Another reason we are running out of IP addresses is due to the fact that no more than ever we are able to connect numerous devices and appliances to the Internet. All of these devices and appliances, when connected need and IP address to connect to the Internet, just like your PC or laptop. However, don't get worried that you won't be able to connect your latest device or appliance to the web. IPv4 is being replaced by IPv6. The IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses which means 4,294,967,296 addresses! If you think that's alot then check this out! The IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses which means 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000! So now that IPv4 officially exhausted on February 3, 2011, most things that we buy that are able to connect to the Internet support IPv6. Many experts have said switching from the IPv4 to the IPv6 will be not only be costly, but will also be a slow process due to the fact that IPv6 isn't backward compatible with IPv4 :( However, once the switch is made permanently from IPv4 to IPv6 you will see improved speed, reliability and security while you are surfing the world wide web!
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