What is IPv4 and IPv6-Definition, Difference between IPv4 and IPv6

What is IPv4 and IPv6-Definition, Difference between IPv4 and IPv6

An IPv6 is a 128 - bit binary address displayed as 32 hexadecimal digits. IPv6 is the successor of IPv4.

Introduction to (Internet Protocol) IPv4 and (Internet Protocol) IPv6

What is IPv4?

IP stands for Internet Protocol whereas V4 stands for Version Four ( IPv4 ). It was the primary version used for production within the ARPANET in 1983. IPv4 addresses are 32-bit integers. It is expressed in hexadecimal notification.

What is IPv6?

IPv4 will be replaced by IPv6. IPv6 will be used in the near future, so it is the next-generation Internet Protocol. This protocol will be used by Internet services in the future. The problem with IPv4 is that it is running out of addresses, so there is a need to look into this matter. It is a known fact, that any device connected to the internet requires a numerical IP address for the purpose of communication with other devices & since IPv4 is running out of addresses, so there is a need to replace it with a more robust version.

IPv6 is basically a network layer protocol that supports communication over a network. The very purpose of developing IPv6 was to offer a system that will be more powerful & can serve the ever-increasing number of internet users more efficiently. Internet Engineering Task Force ( IETF) in December 1998 designed IPv6.

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What are the Benefits of IPv6

IPv4 has some major shortcomings like a limited number of IP addresses, inefficient use of IP address or inefficient provisions for routing, etc. To overcome the shortcomings of IPv4, IETF created a new generation of IP addressing called IPv6. IPv6 is capable of running on high-performance networks such as ATM. It is also efficient enough to be used in low bandwidth networks like wireless.

When we study the internet architecture then we realize that the IP layer of the TCP/ IP protocol stack is the most significant element. With the passage of time, it got evident that IPv4 has some major flaws in relation to its scalability & capability.

It requires additional support in the form of ICMP & ARP to function smoothly. It was observed that there is a need to move on from IPv4 to another version which will be more flexible & potent, so IPv6 came into existence. IPv6 can facilitate to accommodate the explosion of Internet requirements. It is worth mentioning, Internet technology profile mandates that access via IPv4 & access via IPv6 have to coexist.

Some Improvement of IPv6 over IPv4

Certain areas where IPv6 has an edge over IPv4 & they are as follows:

• IPv6 offers a stateless address autoconfiguration which assist in network administration.
• In IPv6, the header structure is far more improved and less processing overhead.
• In IPv6 the network layer security is built-in ( IPsec).
• Another major advantage has been the fact, that NAT has been eliminated thereby address space has been extended from 32 bits to 128 bits.
• Built-in Quality of Service ( QoS) has been incorporated that is capable of distinguishing delay-sensitive packets.

What is the difference between IPv4 and IPv6?

IPv6 is the latest generation of Internet protocol. It is meant to replace IPv4. We must know, that the first stable version of Internet protocol was IPv4. Due to certain limitations & shortcomings of IPv4, IPv6 has been created, so that it will extend a greater degree of scalability & flexibility. At present both the versions are tightly mingled and most engineers run them in tandem.

The creation of IPv6 surely has offered more functionality as well as more IP address. IPv6 has the capacity to support multicast addressing, enabling bandwidth-intensive packet flows like multimedia streams to be sent to multiple destinations which in turn reduce network bandwidth. These distinct advantages were not available with IPv4.

It is worth mentioning IPv6 has a feature known as autoconfiguration. This feature offers a great advantage, as it lets the device generate an IPv6 address the moment it powers up & puts itself on the network. The device immediately tries to figure out the presence of an IPv6 router and if such a router is found then the device generates a local address and a globally routable address providing access to the wider network. When we consider the case of IPv4, the system of adding devices has to be done manually which is a major constraint.

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Difference between IPv4 and IPV6 in terms of Speed comparison

Speed comparison between IPv4 & IPv6 has been done. Series of tests have been conducted in this regard by the security blog Sucuri. The result of such speed test has revealed, that in the case of direct connections both IPv4 & IPv6 have shown the same speed, however, IPv4 has occasionally won the test which could come as a surprise to a lot of people.

Although in theory, IPv6 should be slightly faster in comparison to IPv4 since cycles don't have to be wasted on NAT translation, but we must keep in mind that IPv6 has larger packets which could be the reason for making it slightly slower. Rest assured with the passage of time, tuning  & more advancement, the IPv6 network will get faster. Yes, it is a fact that IPv4 networks are highly optimized however, IPv6 will gain more maturity and will eventually have a faster network.

Difference between IPv4 and IPV6 in terms of Security

IPv6 is more secure. IP security ( IPsec ) is a series of IETF security protocols for security, authentication & data integrity & is integrated into IPv6. It must be mentioned out here, that IPsec can be integrated into IPv4 as well, but the final decision in this regard rests with ISPs, whether to implement it or not.

Conclusion

This article has given us some key information about IPv4 as well as the reasons which led to the advent of IPv6. IPv6 is the latest generation. It is going to replace IPv4, owing to certain key reasons stated in this article. IPv6 will offer certain major advantages & will help us to negate the shortcomings of IPv4.