

That’s 1028 times as many addresses as IPv4! Why Do We Need IPv6?Įven though IPv4 is called “version 4” it is actually the first version of IP ever created and has been around since the invention of the internet. Whereas IPv4 allows for 4.3 billion unique addresses, IPv6 provides enough space for 2^128 unique addresses. It is a 128-bit address space and allows for a lot more unique address combinations. Rule 3: When zeros (0s) are present in discontinuous pattern in IPv6 address notation, then at only one junction, the zeros (0s) are replaced with .Note that it uses a combination of alphanumeric characters, and has twice the number of available spaces that an IPv4 address has. This rule is also known as leading zero compression. However, you cannot apply this rule to trailing zeros (0s). Removing leading zeros (0s) does not have any effect on the value. If the field contains all zeros (0s), you have to leave one zero (0) remaining. But each block in which you do this, have at least one number remaining. Rule 2: Leading zeros (0s) in the 16 bits field can be removed.


This rule is also known as zero compression. Rule 1: When there are continuous zeros (0s) in the IPv6 address notation, they are replaced with. Therefore, several rules are developed to compress and shorten the IPv6 address for convenience of the user. It's a pain in typing all those hexadecimal characters in the IPv6 address. Consider a situation where you have to ping the expanded IPv6 address to check the network connectivity.

But IPv6 addresses are lengthy and challenging to use. With time, people are shifting from IPv4 to IPv6 addresses and also perform IPv4 to IPv6 conversion.
