What is IPV6 | IPV6 in India

What is IPV6
One of the salient features of the National Telecom Policy-2012 of India is "Cloud Computing, Next Generation Network including IPV6". Through this post I am trying to explain the concept of Internet Protocol from a layman's perspective. We know the traffic rules. It is intended to provide a hassle free driving for all and to reduce accidents. Like wise internet also has certain rules and regulations to be followed. In the surfing world, these rules and regulations are named as Protocols. A few examples are HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), Routing Protocol and the above said Internet Protocol. Lets discuss more about Internet Protocol Version 6 here

What is Internet Protocol and IPV6
Every protocol has its own functionality in the internet world. The Internet Protocol (IP) is the principal communications protocol used for sending datagrams or network packets across an internet. Responsible for routing packets across network boundaries, it is the primary protocol that establishes the Internet. he first major version of IP, Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), is the dominant protocol of the internet. IPV6 is the next generation protocol which is increasing in use.

Why IPV6 over IPV4
All the devices connected to the internet, regardless of desktop, laptop, smartphone, cameras etc, follow the IPV4 naming scheme which was developed in 1977. It is a 32-bit system, which follows the xx.xx.xxx.xxx (or similar) pattern, with each set of numbers ranging from 0 to 255, is capable of generation up to 4.3 billion possible addresses. As the number of devices (ofcourse the population!) is increasing day by day, we are forced to move to the next generation protocol which is 128-bit system.

Advantages of IPV6 over IPV4
Below mentioned are the major advantages of IPV6 over IPV4
  • Larger address space of IPV6
  • Transmission of a packet to multiple destinations in a single send operation, called as multicasting. This was an optional feature of IPV4.
  • In IPv6, the packet header and the process of packet forwarding have been simplified.
  • IPV6 brings quality of service that is required for several new applications such as IP telephony, video/audio, interactive games or ecommerce.
  • Stateless Auto-reconfiguration of Hosts. This feature allows IPv6 host to configure automatically when connected to a routed IPv6 network.

Want to see your IP address
?
Go to Start -> Type "cmd" -> On the black screen, type "ipconfig".


Address format of IPV6 (Example from WIKI)
An IPv6 address is represented by 8 groups of 16-bit hexadecimal values separated by colons (:).
Lets take the example fe80:0000:0000:0000:0202:b3ff:fe1e:8300

The hexadecimal digits are case-insensitive.
An IPv6 address can be abbreviated with the following rules:
  •     Omit leading zeroes in a 16-bit value.
  •     Replace one group of consecutive zeroes by a double colon.
After applying the 2 rules it changes to fe80::202:b3ff:fe1e:8300

IPV4 to IPV6 Conversion
Last year, hundreds of Internet companies, including Google and Facebook, temporarily switched over to the IPv6 protocol for 24 hours as part of a global stress-test.The test was done to figure out any deployment issues and to raise awareness about the new Internet technology. The test was a success with no disruptions, and for the most part, the masses surfing the Web didn't notice a thing.

June 6,2012 - The D Day
This year, the Internet Society is promoting the World IPv6 Launch Day (June 6) as a way to encourage companies to make the switch and keep its IPv6 infrastructure live alongside its existing IPv4 systems.

Migration from IPV4 to IPV6 - Any change for End users?
Nothing needs to be changed from an end user perspective and as I said above, we don't even notice the change. But remember, the internet community is moving towards the future!!. Comments are welcomed.

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