IPv4 vs. IPv6

IPv4 and IPv6 are two different versions of the Internet Protocol used to assign IP addresses to devices and transmit data over a network. Here are their differences:

IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4)

• Address Format: IPv4 addresses consist of 32-bit binary numbers, usually represented as four decimal numbers ranging from 0 to 255, separated by dots (e.g., 192.168.1.1).
• Number of Addresses: Theoretically, about 4.3 billion addresses can be assigned, but due to network allocation methods, the actual number of usable addresses is much lower.
• Development Time: IPv4 was developed in the 1980s and became widely used during the early stages of the internet.
• Address Exhaustion: With the rapid growth of the internet, IPv4 addresses have gradually run out, especially in some regions.

IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6)

• Address Format: IPv6 addresses consist of 128-bit binary numbers, typically represented as eight groups of hexadecimal numbers separated by colons (e.g., 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334).
• Number of Addresses: IPv6 provides about 3.4×10³⁸ addresses, which can virtually meet the IP address needs of devices globally.
• Development Time: IPv6 was introduced in 1998 as the successor to IPv4.
• Improved Features: IPv6 not only expands the address space but also improves routing efficiency, security, and auto-configuration features.

Main Differences

• Address Length: IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses, while IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses.
• Address Representation: IPv4 uses dotted decimal notation, while IPv6 uses hexadecimal notation separated by colons.
• Address Capacity: IPv6 has far greater address capacity than IPv4.
• Additional Features: IPv6 includes mandatory support for IPsec (a suite of protocols for network security), while in IPv4, IPsec is optional.

IPv6 was introduced to address the issue of IPv4 address exhaustion and offers more features and better network performance. The adoption rate of IPv6 is gradually increasing over time.