The Need of IPv6

It’s a well-known fact that the Internet is growing at an astronomical speed due to the flexibility of its design. The devices we want to communicate with has grown from a collection of static devices to mobile devices mostly connected on the internet.

The IP version currently used in the internet and networks is IP version 4 (IPv4). IP version 4 was developed in the early ’70s to facilitate communication and information sharing between government researchers and academics in the United States. At that time, the system was closed with a limited number of access points, and therefore the developers didn’t imagine requirements such as security or quality of service. To its credit, IPv4 has continued for over 30 years and has been an important part of the Internet uprising.

The requirements of today’s networking extend far beyond support for web pages and email. The growth in network device variety and mobile communications; new services, and social networks are overwhelming IPv4 and have driven the increase of a next-generation Internet Protocol.

The depletion of IPv4 address space has been the motivating factor for moving to the next-generation internet protocol. As Africa, Asia and other countries become more connected to the Internet, there are not enough IPv4 addresses to accommodate this growth.

To help alleviate the depletion of IPv4 so many methods were adopted; including subnetting, NAT and PAT; but these methods were not able to provide the ability to scale networks for future demands.

IPv4 has a maximum of 4.3 billion addresses. Private addresses in combination with Network Address Translation (NAT) have been instrumental in slowing the depletion of IPv4 address space. However, NAT breaks many applications and has limitations that severely impede peer-to-peer communications

Internet of Everything (IOE)

The internet of everything is the concept of Cisco. The internet of Everything (IoE) is a concept that extends the Internet of Things emphasis on machine-to-machine communications to describe a more complex system that also encompasses people and processes.IPv6 fulfills these ever progressively complex requirements of hierarchical and boundless supply of IP addressing and improved mobility.

The Internet of today is totally different than from the Internet of past years.Because, today’s internet is not only email; web pages, and file transfer between different computers. The developing Internet is becoming an Internet of everything. No longer will the only devices accessing the Internet be computers, tablets, and smartphones. IoE expands on the concept of the “Internet of Things” in that it connects not just physical devices but quite literally everything by getting them all on the network.

The sensor-equipped, Internet-ready devices of tomorrow will include everything from automobiles and biomedical devices, to household appliances and natural ecosystems.

With an increasing Internet population; a limited IPv4 address space, issues with NAT and an Internet of Everything, the time has come to begin the transition to IPv6.