The Evolution Of The Internet

The internet as we all know it is about to change, whether it’s for better or worse, is hard to tell. The pressing issue that must be addressed is “The Impending Nightmare of IPv6”, as written about in PCWorld. Everyone currently uses an IPv4 address, if you’re still lost about what it is; IPv4 is basically the current default home address for your internet connection, whether it’s received via computer, cell phone, television, etc. IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses which allow for 4 billion unique addresses.
In the early stages of the internet no one thought it would have grown on such a massive scale, but way more people and devices started connecting to the internet. At the moment there is about 5% of those 4 billion unique addresses available. It is expected to be depleted by June 17, 2011. “Once they’re gone, they’re gone.”  according to PCWorld, “That means when your business needs some more IP addresses in early 2012, you’re either going to have to pay a pretty penny for them or get IPv6 addresses.”
Look for IPv4 to be phased out within this decade. But there is hope! In 1995 a plan was put into action to back up the current connection system should it become overloaded. This is where IPv6 comes in. IPv6 uses a 128-bit address that will be much cheaper and allow for every single person on the planet at this time to have access to 50,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 unique addresses. That should be well more than enough to keep our ipads, droids, and netbooks surfing the web.

Article written By Alex Elkan