AQA Computer Science A Level
Why don't we all use IPv6??By Admin - June 22, 2020, 5:11 p.m.
Last Edit - June 23, 2020, 8:24 a.m.
You would think that by now, everyone would be using IPv6. IPv6 was launched just over 8 years ago (06/06/2012) and allows 340 Trillion addresses compared to IPv4's mere 4.3 Billion. At one point it was hard to imagine a world which needed anywhere near 4.3 Billion address, however has technology has developed into the mainstream we now have multiple devices each. My household has 4 laptops, 1 desktop, 2 phones, 1 tablet, 4 raspberry pi's (all running 24/7), and several smart devices.
What are the benefits of IPv6
- IPv6 has enough address for every device ever made, and ever likely to be made over a very significant amount of time.
- That would remove the need for Public / Private IP Addressing,
- This will then remove the need to use Network Address Translation
- More simplified routing of data
When will it be mainstream
Several companies are preparing for IPv6 only networks and devices:
- LinkedIn’s IPv6 Engineering team published how their IPv6 traffic volume passed the 50% mark.
- Facebook noted in 2018 their IPv6 traffic volume surpassed their IPv4 traffic volume for the first time.
- Microsoft has been operating IPv6-only environments in their buildings.
- Belgium was one of the first countries to reach the 50% IPv6 traffic milestone.
What is slowing the change
ISP's and Mobile Networks would rather operate only a single protocol on their massive backbone networks. However, even though they would prefer to operate an IPv6-only network, their subscribers have many IPv4-only devices that will need to be supported for many years.
When will IPv4 be dropped
There is no set date for the wholesale switch to IPv6, but the best estimates suggest this will happen in 2030 (10 years time!!!). This will be achieved by the main tech companies removing the backward compatibility that still allow IPv4. Companies such has Facebook will determine when this happens, and will be when compatibility is no longer cost effective.
What you could do
- FInd the IPv6 address for your device
- Does your ISP provide an IPv6 address