Internet Protocol : IPv6 to replace IPv4 by June 6 ,2012

IPv6(Internet Protocol Version 6)  will succeed IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4) which is currently the internet protocol  used all over  the World by  June 6,2012 .

Each  host ,computer  or  other  device  on  the  Internet  requires  an IP address in  order  to  communicate. The  explosive  growth  of  the  Internet over  the  last  decade  has  created  a  need  for  more  addresses  than  are possible  with  IPv4.

Like IPv4, IPv6 is an internet-layer protocol for packet-switched internetworking and provides end-to-end datagram transmission across multiple IP networks. While IPv4 allows 32 bits for an IP address, and therefore has 2³² (4 294 967 296) possible addresses, IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses, for an address space of 2¹²⁸ (approximately 3.4×10³⁸) address.

 IPv6 will make not much difference to most users because they will most probably continue to use IPv4 by default, as the switch to IPv6 is possible only when their computers, the networks and the content and service providers are ready for it.

IPv6 also implements additional features not present in IPv4. It simplifies aspects of address assignment (stateless address autoconfiguration), network renumbering and router announcements when changing network connectivity providers.

 The IPv6 subnet size has been standardized by fixing the size of the host identifier portion of an address to 64 bits to facilitate an automatic mechanism for forming the host identifier from link-layer media addressing information (MAC address). Network security is also integrated into the design of the IPv6 architecture, including the option of IPsec.

For the Internet to make use of the advantages of IPv6 over IPv4 :

• Most hosts on the Internet, as well as the networks connecting them, need to deploy this protocol. However, IPv6 deployment has been slow.

• While deployment of IPv6 is accelerating, especially in the Asia-Pacific region and some European countries, areas such as the Americas and Africa are comparatively lagging in deployment of IPv6.

•  IPv6 does not implement interoperability features with IPv4, and creates essentially a parallel, independent network. Exchanging traffic between the two networks requires special translator gateways, but modern computer operating systems implement dual-protocol software for transparent access to both networks either natively or using a tunneling protocol