IPv6 The Next Generation
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In case you've been living in a cave for the past few months, I'm here to inform you that IPv6 adoption is close to overcoming some of the barriers that will allow for full on IPv6 to IPv6 connections. If you haven't heard about this, allow me to be the first to enlighten you.
In fact, I will use this article to bring your dangerously low nerd levels up to speed. To help you get the most out of this article I'm going to start by explaining what IPv6 actually is. First of all, IP, or Internet Protocol, denotes how “packets” containing data and the destination address will be transmitted over the network. IP is usually combined with Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), which creates the connection between the source of the transmission and the destination. IP allows you to arrange where you want the data to go, while TCP secures the connection, so that the host computers can communicate for a designated period of time.
The current version of IP is version 4 (IPv4), so logically, IPv6 is the successor to IPv4. Often called IPng, or Internet Protocol next generation, IPv6 will be able to coexist with IPv4, at least until IPv4 is made utterly obsolete like oh so many of our dreams. The most important feature of IPv6 will be its ability to allow for more hosts (individual computer systems containing data) to be connected and data to be transmitted over the Internet, ultimately stimulating a slow but steady growth of the Internet.
Now, I mentioned that there are barriers preventing full IPv6 adoption. Possibly the most obtrusive among them is the fact that IPv6 address information has not been included in most root DNS servers. A DNS (Domain Name System) server transforms domain names into IP addresses. The Internet uses these IP addresses as the sole means of locating and delivering information to other hosts. However, apparently IPv4 is running low on address spaces for websites, so an upgrade to a larger, more adaptive protocol should seem like a no-brainer.
On February 4, this no-brainer started to feel the effects of those with brains as some of the key root DNS servers began to address the IPv6 address issue. Keep reading to find out exactly what happened. Doing so will propel you into the next phase of nerd-o-synthesis and believe me, no sunlight is required; in fact, it's prohibited.
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