On April 15, 2011 when the internet officially ran out of IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) addresses, webmasters were forced to turn to the new kid in town, IPv6.
An IP address is a numerical label assigned to every device that’s connected to the internet. Having an IP address allows a device to communicate with other devices that also have an IP address.
At first there was some trepidation about using IPv6, but soon, internet administrators came to realize that there were considerable benefits of using IPv6 over its predecessor IPv4.
For example, IPv6 reduces the size of routing tables, which makes routing more hierarchical and therefore more efficient. IPv6 also lets ISPs combine the prefixes of their customers’ networks into a single prefix.
Additionally, with IPv6, the source device, rather than the router, handles fragmentation, using a protocol for discovering the path’s Maximum Transition Unit (MTU).
IPv6 also offers better security. Because IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses, the pool of possible addresses is 340 undecillion (3.4×1038). IPv4’s 32-bit addresses allow for only 4.3 billion addresses. A bigger pool of addresses obviously means more scalability, but, less obviously, it also means increased security. That’s because under the IPv6 system, host scanning and identification is more difficult for hackers.
When IPv4 was first developed, internet security wasn’t as much of an issue as it is today. This explains why the few security protocols available for IPv4 appear to have been developed as an afterthought.
But IPv6 was built with security in mind. Many of the IPv4’s optional security requirements have been baked into IPv6 as default requirements. For instance, IPv6 automatically encrypts traffic and checks packet integrity. This gives standard internet traffic VPN-level protection.
Want to learn more? Tonex offers eight IPv6 training courses, where participants focus on the speed and efficiency of IPv6 technology and its ability to carry more information across the internet.
If you or your employees want to start learning about the internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), the IPv6 Training Fundamentals class will provide an introduction to the protocol and covers the basic structure of the new protocol headers. Learn about the primary drivers for IPv6 and the impending industry transition to IPv6.
Advanced concepts of IPv6 such as addressing structure and allocation, routing, DNS, DHCP, security, QoS, application migration and porting are also covered in additional classes.
Learn IPv6 from experts. Some courses even offer certification. A few of the IPv6 courses available include:
IPv6 Desktop Support Training for windows, MAC OSx, MAC OS Lion, Linux (4 days)
IPv6 Systems Engineering (3 days)
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.