Did you know?
The internet communicates through a set of protocols called
TCP/IP. Each node (or device) has its own IP address so that information can be
sent to it when requested.
Specifically, devices and organizations have been assigned
IP addresses using IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4). The problem with IPv4 is
that it supports up to 4 billion addresses (or devices). With the recent
explosion in the number of devices (think IPad, Samsung Galaxy, etc), this
creates a problem.
Unfortunately the address assigning authority, Internet
Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has run out of addresses (back in January of
2011). This is where the next version of IP comes to the rescue.
IPv6. IPv6 does not use the dotted decimal (172.194.37.52).
Instead, it uses hexadecimal numbers (2001:0:5ef5:79fd:18f4:23ea:3f57:fe94). This
allows for internet addresses (or devices) of up to 340 undecillion. That’s
enough addresses for “every piece of sand on the planet”!
And the good news is that newer operating systems such as
Windows XP and higher support both IPv4 and IPv6. So, no need to worry your
little head over running out of IP addresses. Your device will be able to “connect”,
as long as you have an ISP of course.
