IPv4 Vs IPv6 -- What's the Differentialities Between Both Protocols?

Are you confused by the distinction between IPv4 as opposed to IPv6?

IP, an abbreviation that stands for IP, which is an abbreviation fornternet IP, an abbreviation for Internet Protocolrotocol which is a protocol for computers and devices to connect to one another on networks. Like as the "v" in the title implies, there are two varieties of Internet Protocol: IPv4 and IPv6.

In this blog We'll explore the essential information you must be aware of to comprehend the differences of IPv4 or IPv6. What we'll discuss:

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What exactly is what is the Internet Protocol (IP)?

Internet Protocol (IP) is an established set of rules to assist in the routing of data packets to ensure that data is able to traverse networks and get it to its intended destination.

If a computer attempts to transfer data, it is broken into smaller bits which are referred to as packets. To ensure that the packets get to the right place every packet is accompanied by information about the IP.

The IP address you are most familiar with will look something like this:

  32.253.431.175  

When assigning each device an IP address can be in a position to efficiently route those data packets to ensure they make them to the correct location.

What exactly is IPv4?

Although it's not that "4" that is in the title IPv4 is in fact the very first version of IP to be utilized. It first came out around 1983, and even to this day it's the most popular version for identifying devices within the network.

IPv4 is a type of address. IPv4 utilizes a 32-bit address which is the form which you're most likely aware of when you talk about the term "IP address". The 32-bit address space offers approximately 4.3 million unique IP addresses although certain IP blocks are reserved for certain applications.

Here's an example for An IPv4 address:

  32.253.431.175  

What exactly is IPv6?

IPv6 is a newer version of IP. IPv6 is the latest version of IP which uses 128-bit format for address formats that includes numbers as well as letters. Here's an example for one IPv6 address:

  3002:0bd6:0000:0000:0000:ee00:0033:6778  

What is the reason we need the New Version of IP?

If you're at this point you may be asking what the point of IPv6 is even a thing at all.

While the 4.3 billion possibilities for IP addresses of IPv4 may seem like a lotof IP addresses, there is a need for a lot of IP addresses!

There are many individuals around the globe with numerous gadgets. This becomes a larger problem with the increasing popularity of IoT devices (Internet of Things) and sensors as they significantly increase the range of devices that are connected.

In simple terms, the planet was out of unique IPv4 addresses. That's one of the primary reasons we required IPv6.

Additionally, there are less technical and nitty-gritty reasons but let's get them out of the way.

What's the Difference Between IPv4 and IPv6?

Let's now look at the distinction between IPv4 and IPv6.

One of the most noticeable differences that is most relevant for everyday folks to notice, is the differences in the formats used:

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• IPv4 utilizes a 32-bit address
• IPv6 utilizes an address of 128 bytes

Without going into the mathematics (we'll leave that to the next part) it signifies IPv6 has IPv6 provides 1,028 higher number of addresses as IPv4 and eliminates problem of "running out of address" issue (at at least in the near time).

IPv6 can also be an alphanumeric number that is separated by colons. IPv4 is just numeric, separated by spaces. Here's an example for each of them:

• IPv4 - 32.253.431.175
• IPv6 - 3002:0bd6:0000:0000:0000:ee00:0033:6778

There are also some technical distinctions in IPv4 and IPv6 even though those who aren't developers don't necessarily need to be aware of them. One of the biggest technological differences include:

• IPv6 comes with an integrated Quality of Service (QoS).
• IPv6 is a security layer for networks (IPsec).
• IPv6 is a solution to Network Address Translation (NAT) and permits end-to end connectivity at the IP layer.
• Multicasting is one of the standard specifications of IPv6 but it's not available for IPv4. IPv4. Multicasting permits the sending of a data packet to many destinations at the same time in a single.
• IPv6 includes larger headers of packets (about two times as big as IPv4).

How many addresses are included in IPv4 in comparison to IPv6?

In the same way, IPv6 can support 1,028 times more IP addresses than IPv4.

IPv4 allows for around 4.29 billion IP addresses.

IPv6 however, on contrary, supports...well, the easiest method of writing it's 2128 distinct addresses. If you're interested in the exact number, here's how many unique addresses IPv6 offers: 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456

This means that we've got quite a ways to go before we are out of IPv6 addresses!

Does there exist a difference between IPv4 and IPv6 Speed? Which is Faster?

Overall, there's not much difference between IPv4 as compared to IPv6 speeds. However, certain evidence suggests that IPv6 may be slightly quicker in certain situations.

On the "no distinction" aspect, Sucuri ran a test of sites that were able to support both IPv4 as well as IPv6 and discovered that there was essentially none of a difference between the websites they examined.

But, it is also possible to discover evidence supporting IPv6 is faster. As an example, Facebook's Engineering blog declared that "We've noticed that using IPv6 to access Facebook is 10-15 percent quicker than IPv6".

One reason IPv6 may be quicker is the fact that it does not spend time with Network Address Translation (NAT). But, IPv6 also has larger headers in the packet, meaning it may be slower in certain scenarios.

Are IPv4 or IPv6 more popular?

While the statistics are shifting with IPv6 grows in popularity, IPv4 is still the most popular Internet Protocol.

Google keeps public data regarding IPv6 access of Google users across the globe. These figures are the proportion of traffic traffic Google websites that are over IPv6 and not IPv4.

Globally, IPv6 has around ~32 percent of availability. However, there are huge differences between nations. As an example that the USA is home to more than 41 percent IPv6 use, whereas the UK is around 30 percent usage, and Spain only has 2.5 percentage of use.

Which Internet Protocol Version Does Use?

However, IPv6 support is on Google Cloud's agenda, and it could alter in the future. There's currently no formal timeframe to determine the date Google Cloud will add IPv6 support.

Summary

The Internet Protocol (IP) helps move data through networks. In order to do this, every device has an IP number.

IPv4 is the first version of IPv4 that first came out in 1983. Its 32-bit format can only support ~4.3 billion distinct addresses that isn't enough to meet the demands of today's world.

In order to address the issue of not having distinctive IPv4 addresses (and to make technological changes), IPv6 was created. IPv6 utilizes the 128-bit format for address formats that allows 3.4 10 ³⁸ unique IP addresses.

In the majority of cases, this is the only thing you have to know about IPv6 - IPv6 utilizes a distinct format and has a lot more distinct IP addresses than IPv4.

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