IPv6-Internet Protocol Version 6

By,
Pankaj

Internet Protocol version 6 is set of specifications from Internet Engineering Task Force that's essentially an upgrade of IP version 4 Internet Protocol version 4.The basics of Internet Protocol version 6 are similar to those of Internet Protocol version 4 devices can use Internet Protocol version 6 as source and destination addresses to pass packets over a network, and tools like ping work for network testing as they do in IPv4, with some slight variations.

Internet Protocol Version 6 is network layer protocol that enables data communications over  packet switched network. Packet switching involves the sending and receiving of data in packets between two nodes in a network. The working standard for the Internet Protocol version 6 protocol was published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in 1998. The IETF specification for Internet Protocol version 6 is RFC 2460 Internet Protocol version 6 was intended to replace the widely used Internet Protocol Version 4 (Internet Protocol version 4) that is considered the backbone of the modern Internet. Internet Protocol version 6 is often referred to as the "next generation Internet" because of its expanded capabilities and its growth through recent large scale deployments. In year of  2004, Japan and Korea were acknowledged as having the first public deployments of Internet Protocol version 6.
The explosive growth in mobile devices including mobile phones and wireless handheld devices has created need for additional blocks of IP addresses. Internet Protocol version 4   currently supports a maximum of approximately 4.2 billion unique IP addresses. Internet Protocol version 6 supports a theoretical maximum of 2128 addresses (340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,456 ). Recent advancements in network technology including Network Address Translation have temporarily lessened urgency for new IP addresses, however, recent estimates indicate that Internet Protocol version 4  addresses could be exhausted as soon as 2012.
Internet Protocol version 6  and Internet Protocol version 4  share a similar architecture. Majority of transport layer protocols that function with Internet Protocol version 4 will also function with the Internet Protocol version 6 protocol. Most application layer protocols are expected to be interoperable with Internet Protocol version 6 as well, with the notable exception of File Transfer Protocol .
A main advantage of Internet Protocol version 6 is increased address space. The 128-bit length of Internet Protocol version 6 addresses is a significant gain over the 32-bit length of Internet Protocol version 4 addresses, allowing for an almost limitless number of unique IP addresses. The size of the Internet Protocol version 6 address space makes it less vulnerable to malicious activities such as IP scanning. Internet Protocol version 6 packets can support a larger payload than IPv4 packets resulting in increased throughput and transport efficiency.
A key enhancement over Internet Protocol version 4 is native support for mobile devices. Internet Protocol version 6supports the Mobile Internet Protocol version 6 protocol which enables mobile devices and wireless devices to switch between networks and receive a roaming notification regardless of physical location Mobile Internet Protocol version 6 is a hallmark of the protocol and was specified as a firm requirement during the design of Internet Protocol version 6. The IETF has separate specifications for Mobile Internet Protocol version 6 that detail data structure, messaging, and security requirements.
Auto-configuration is another Internet Protocol version 6  enhancement that is considered a great benefit to network administrators. Internet Protocol version 6   devices can independently auto-configure themselves when connected with other IPv6 devices. Internet Protocol version 6   router has the ability to determin its own IPv6 address using data link layer addressing parameters. The IETF has issued RFC 2462 to set guidelines for Internet Protocol version 6 auto-configuration.
The deployment of Internet Protocol version 6   networks is growing worldwide. Full replacement of Internet Protocol version 4 is expected to take some time, as it remains the most widely used Internet Protocol. The United States and India are leading recent deployments of the Internet Protocol version 6  protocol and have large investments in Internet Protocol version 6  network infrastructure. United States government has mandated that federal agencies must complete the transition to Internet Protocol version 6  infrastructure no later than 2008. Software companies are also releasing operating systems that support the Internet Protocol version 6   standard. In 1997, IBM became the first commercial vendor to support Internet Protocol version 6   through its an AIX 4.3 operating system.Latest version of Microsoft's Windows operating system, Windows Vista, has full Internet Protocol version 6  support enabled by default.