For the first time I learned in class that we are running out of IP addresses it shocked me but at the same time it did not. The internet grows too rapidly, and there are only so many digits in the IP version 4. In doing some research on IPv6, I found some interesting things. Originally an idea thought of in 1995 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Instead of just adding numbers, they found the only solution to redesign the internet protocol itself. What it does is it increases the size of the address from 32 bits to 128 bits, which should create enough digits to satisfy the near future. This new IP design is aimed at connecting subnet routing prefixes, (basically the goal to connect to other computers) instead of just providing a substantial amount of IP addresses. Here's an example of a new IPv6:3ffe3ffe:1900:4545:3:200:f8ff:fe21:67cf. To keep things simple, they are combining letters with numbers, but it gets much more complicated than that. With this new version in mind, we don't have to worry about trying to preserve IPv4 addresses. Another cool thing is that modern desktops operating systems and servers already support IPv6 protocol, but it really hasn't been established yet. I'm glad this problem has already been addressed. We'll see what the future holds.
