IPv6
Definition
"Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is a version of the Internet Protocol (IP) that is designed to succeed Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4). The Internet operates by transferring data in small packets that are independently routed across networks as specified by an international communications protocol known as the Internet Protocol. Each data packet contains two numeric addresses that are the packet's origin and destination devices. Since 1981, IPv4 has been the publicly used Internet Protocol, and it is currently the foundation for most Internet communications. The Internet's growth has created a need for more addresses than IPv4 has. IPv6 allows for vastly more numerical addresses, but switching from IPv4 to IPv6 may be a difficult process." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6)
Discussion
Eugen Leitl: IPV6 is a P2P Friend
"IPv6 is just a protocol. It actually on our side, because of the following:
- IPv4 is almost finished, and any attempts to keep it around
longer make it expensive for telcos and will break a lot of P2P protocols (NAT44) -- if this happens this will bite us in the butt, hard.
- IPv6 is rough at the edges and there's an attention focus on
it to fix them. It is still possible to ride on the momentum to add features interesting to us.
- IPv6 is not a 128 bit address space, but a 64 bit address
space, and will be dished out in form of large network blocks to *individual customers*. (That the DOCSIS pilot issues only /64 to end customers is hopefully an anomaly). You can easily get huge amounts of address space, and use it basically to purposes the designers did not intend." (building a distributed internet mailing list, 3/2011)