Why IPv6 is it needed: an extraordinary properties

About the IPv6

A little clarification, an IP address is, in fact, the postal address of a device on a network. Each site, smartphone, computer, server, and so on, must have an IP address, otherwise the data packets simply will not know where to be transmitted. A kind of communication between devices.

Since IPv4 addresses were and remain very limited, the right to distribute them was assigned to five non-profit organizations responsible for their region.

• North America – ARIN
• South America – Lacnic
• Africa – Afrinic
• Asia, Oceania, Australia – Apnic
• Eurasia – Ripe NNC

The number of devices in the world is growing very rapidly! To give you an idea of the rate of growth, according to IDC, by 2025 there will be more than 152 billion IoT devices on the network, only (!) IoT devices! In 2021, there are only 10 billion of them. Total growth is expected to be 15 times in 4 years!

IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) – is a new improved version of the Internet Protocol (IP), designed to solve the problems that the previous version (IPv4) faced when using it on the Internet, due to a number of fundamental changes. The protocol was developed by the IETF. An IPv6 address is 128 bits long, unlike an IPv4 address which is 32 bits long.

When using IPv4, perhaps the average user understands that there is a 16-digit number that has a huge number of variations. However, with the advent of a large number of devices in the global network, their number is narrowing and declining very quickly. The first and main difference between IPv4 and IPv6 is that IP addresses in the new v6 protocol have become 128 bits long. This gives 2128 options for unique addresses, and this is how many:

340 282 366 920 938 463 463 374 607 431 768 211 456 combinations

IPv6 address example: 1050:0000:0000:0000:0005:0600:300c:326b

IPv6 is superior to IPv4 in many ways and has a number of clear advantages. Let’s describe them below and draw some conclusions:

The obvious advantage is a wider address space;

• There will be enough addresses for many centuries to come. This in turn is due to the fact that there will no longer be a need to look for other solutions, and it will be possible to completely get rid of NAT;
• Each of the devices connected to the network will be able to get its own “white” IP address, which is already good. So many IPv4 addresses have a “bad reputation” today, and it’s sad.
• Peer-to-peer networks will really work well, i.e. networks where devices can communicate directly with each other.

When we talk to you about IPv6, we immediately think about when IPv4 addresses will run out. This issue is very relevant and serious. As for IPv4 addresses, most of the world ran out of IPv4 between 2011 and 2018. However, you and I will not be completely deprived of them, since IPv4 addresses are sold and reused. For example, an IPv4 is assigned to a server and it is anchored over it while the user is using the server. After the user detaches the server from himself and no longer uses it – IPv4 is released for a while, and then can be assigned to another user.

There is no official shutdown and shutdown date for IPv4, so people don’t have to worry about their internet access suddenly disappearing one day. As more networks migrate to IPv6, more content sites support the new protocol, and more end users upgrade their equipment to IPv6 capabilities, the world will gradually move away from IPv4. As already described above, the number of combinations increases significantly when using the new protocol. As the protocol version number increases, the size of the address array increases from 4.3×109 to 3.4×1038 unique IP addresses.

The Internet Engineering Council is an open international community of designers, scientists, network operators and providers, created by the IAB in 1986 and dedicated to the development of the protocols and architecture of the Internet. Open principles and philosophy is that absolutely any interested person can participate in the development, learn about the decisions being made and speak on the topic of development.

Part of this principle is the IETF’s obligation to make publicly available (on the Internet) documents, mailing lists for working group members, attendance lists, and meeting minutes. For example, the IETF has included enhancements to IPv6 over IPv4. The IPv6 protocol can process packets more efficiently, improve performance and security. This allows ISPs to reduce the size of their routing tables, making them more hierarchical.

There is an opinion that the Ipv6 protocol is more secure than its predecessor, the IPv4 protocol. However, in fact, these two protocols have an identical level of security. Then, when a new protocol appeared, along with this, it became possible to encrypt traffic using the IPSec standard. However, keep in mind that this encryption method is less common than the SSL standard, since it requires additional hardware to use. In practice, IPSec can be applied to IPv4 as well.

This is just an opinion, and I don’t think it’s worth pointing it out too much here. However, it is noted that until the Internet community has made its full transition to a new protocol layer, IPv6 users are at greater risk, since ISPs can use IPv6 tunnels in order to provide IPv4 users with access to IPv6 content. Attackers, in turn, can use these tunnels to carry out their own attacks.

Is it possible to switch completely to the new protocol? Of course, yes, it’s a matter of time. However, there is a problem: it consists in two factors – this is cost and time. Due to the fact that there is a very large shortage of IPv4 addresses, most ISPs use DHCP servers to automatically determine the IP address on the client’s equipment. Google once came out with a statement that today 14% of Internet users are already using the latest IPv6 protocol. And the American Internet provider Comcast assures that half of Internet users from the United States have already switched to the new protocol.

According to some data and forecasts, conclusions follow that already in 2025 the number of IPv6 users will already be 800 million, and IoT devices – 400 million. IPv6 mobile traffic will be 70%, urban networks – 20%. IPv6 will also be required to use government websites. Half of the home router fleet will use this protocol. By this time, 95% of large commercial websites and mobile Internet applications will need to support IPv6.

Is it worth believing and is it really true? Only time will show.