The Future of IP-addresses; IPv6
What is IPv6?
IPv6 stands for internet protocol version 6. The idea behind it is that it is going to be needed to provide more possibilities for ip addresses. There are so many web pages out there that the internet is running out of new addresses. Right now, the average ip address consists of four sets of numbers for example: 230.23.65.131. Currently, the internet is becoming flooded with web sites. The United States owns most of these Ip addresses but other countries are growing and they will have no new addresses to use.
IPv4 was the original internet protocol being used and it is over 20 years old. The new IPv6 protocol is going to add many more address opportunities as well as adding many improvements IPv4 in areas such as routing and network auto configuration. It is expected that changing over to IPv6 is going to be a long process and will require a transition period in which both protocols will be used. Eventually IPv6 should replace IPv4 with increases efficiency, opportunities, and stability.
What are the Potential Problems?
One major problem involving the new internet protocol is going be security. Security issues could arise with the exchanging and transformation of IP addresses between IPv4 and IPv6. It is very important to maintain a secure internet these days because so many things are bought and sold on the internet today. We have to protect people from identity theft or credit card theft.
Another problem that could arise is how to orchestrate this transition. Many new ideas such as DSTM or Dual Stack Transition Mechanisms are being developed to assigned temporary addresses to ease compatibility. Some problems with this are the burden that host will face to maintain this and where to get temporary IPv4 address if they run out.
What are the Possible Solutions?
IPv6 is promised to be very secure. The only solution to the security issue is to be very careful when implementing the transition. If we change over to quickly without thinking everything through we could left our information databases open to security risks or identity theft.
A solution to the address shortage during transition would be to devise some software that could allocate temporary IPv4 address to IPv6 addresses with using up any more IPv4 addresses. After the transition is completed this will no longer pose a problem however.
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Copyright 2005 D. Edwards W.M.