IPv6 day

[PMC]

Many of the larger websites will be running an addressing scheme that is coming to the internet, on June 24th, in a test, for the future of cyberspace.

It is called IPv6 or Internet Protocol version 6 and it has existed since 1998.

The existing internet uses an addressing scheme called IPv4 or Internet Protocol version 4.

It has the capacity to hold 4.3 billion addresses... relate it to 4.3 billion phone numbers etc. The existing internet is closing into saturation of that capacity.

The existing internet uses an addressing scheme that is 32 bits in length, separated as 8 bits per number, and read/written in decimal format.

The IPv6 format is 8 blocks of 16 bits, and read/written in hexidecimal format.

Examples IPv4 - 32 bits = 127.0.0.1 IPv6 - 128 bits = FF:00:00:00:00:00:00:01

For the average computer user, this test and network addressing change will be almost invisible. The current versions of Linux or Windows 7 / Vista already have IPv6 in the networking. It currently isn't being used, unless someone has it setup and running within their local area network.

Because this is addressing, most existing websites that are running on an IPv4 address will connect using IPv4, and sites like Google which is part of the test, will be accessable via IPv6.

[PMC]

Comcast start the IPv6 test on Jan 11th...see below
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Comcast has successfully activated our first group of cable modem customers using IPv6 in a "Native Dual Stack" configuration. These customers can now access content and services natively over both IPv6 and IPv4, since they have both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. As a result, they do not need to use any tunneling or translation solutions including Network Address Translation (NAT); they can access IPv6 and IPv4 directly at high-speed, in an unencumbered fashion.
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http://blog.comcast.com/2011/01/comcast ... ocsis.html