If you establish a network either for your home or network, you ought to understand IP addressing. Obsolete versions of IP assign network cards a 32-bit binary value representing an address. The value is displayed in a decimal format named octets.
Dismally, 32 bits is inadequate because of the planet’s thriving Internet. To ameliorate these circumstances, the IT industry brought an innovative conception to life: the IPv6, which refers to a 128-bit binary address. IPv6 provides trillions of attainable addresses.
Recalling IPv6 addresses is straightforward, but IPv6 adopts a distinctive format and numbering system. IPv6 deploys hexadecimal notation to delineate a 128-bit binary address. Conceive of 128 utilizing ones and zeroes as your address. It’s nearly inconceivable to memorize unless you possess astounding memory. Using hexadecimal notation, the 16-bit sections concerning an IPv6 address may be abbreviated into a 4-digit hexadecimal value.
Consider examining a standard IPv6 address below:
2001:0db8:0000:1234:0000:0000:0052:0001
You can see that the first value is 2001. It is important to remember that this represents hexadecimal notation. 2001 embedded within hexadecimal notation is not identical as 2001 in decimal form. 2001 is literally 8193 in decimal notation.
Perceive that the second portion contains an alphanumeric value. Hexadecimal delineates numbers from 0 to 15 or 0 to 10, along with alphabets: A, B, C, D, E, and F. Employing a hexadecimal-to-decimal conversion, A refers to 11, B refers to 12, C refers to 13, D refers to 14, E refers to 15, and F refers to 16. This indicates that 11 in hexadecimal persists as the value of 17 in decimal. When you obtain bulkier values, hexadecimal numbers abridge larger binary or decimal values into tinier notation. This is the first phase in understanding IPv6 address shortcuts. Every portion of the IPv6 address illustrates 16 bits instead of obsolete IPv4 addresses that integrated as 8 bits for each section.
The subsequent shortcut relates to eradicating every 0 value. The value “0000” refers to 0 in each numeric notation. You may additionally construct a shortcut by writing the IPv6 address utilizing the ensuing notation:
2001:0db8:0000:1234::0052:0001
As you can see, there are double colons which convey to routers and network cards that zeros have to be inserted between the colons. Remember you can merely acquire one set of double colons since routing protocols perceive this address and understand that two sets of zeroes ought to be infused. There are invariably 8 sections situated within a single IPv6 address. In our example, there are 6 sections. Therefore, routing protocols understand in implementing 2 sets of zeroes. If you possessed double colons in another area of the address, the routing protocol wouldn’t grasp how many sets of zeroes to establish in each area. Ultimately, you would encounter an error.
If your network supports IPv6, you have the capability of pinging the address in the same way as you would with an IPv4 address. All network functionality works identically when accompanied by an IPv6 address scheme, barring that you possess more addresses accessible for devices. Every device that connects to your network requires an IP, and with the swift advancement of mobile devices, it’s feasible that you require more addresses than what IPv4 provides.
IPv6 addresses are more challenging to recall, but they provide more address spaces. If you wish to keep your network open to flexibility, IPv6 is the answer.
