What is IPv6?

IPv6 is the latest version of the Internet protocol (IP). The purpose of Internet protocols is to set specific rules for the devices to send and receive information successfully. The exchange of information is between two hosts. So, for that reason, they have to be able to be identified. IP addresses come to help in this situation to track each host’s location. Finally, the two corresponding IP addresses are acknowledged, and the route is established for the entire data exchange.

An interesting fact is that IPv6 was officially introduced in 1995. That is more than twenty years! The massive growth of devices and the Internet’s gained popularity forced the need for the new IPv6. It was decided that IPv4 could not be able to provide the required amount of IP addresses. So, that is why IPv6 got developed. However, the transition to the newer version takes time. The majority of the devices, such as computers, smartphones, and the Internet of things (IoT), request a unique IP address to connect to the web daily. Let’s talk a little bit more about the benefits of IPv6!

Effective routing

With IPv6, the size of routing tables is reduced, and routing is a lot more effective. It lets ISPs aggregate the prefixes of their clients’ networks into an individual prefix and state this one prefix to the IPv6 Internet. Furthermore, in IPv6 networks, the fragmentation is managed by the source device and not by the router. That is possible by applying a protocol to identify the path’s maximum transmission unit (MTU).

Effective packet processing

The IPv6 has a more simple packet header that produces more efficient packet processing. Furthermore, in contrast with IPv4, IPv6 doesn’t include IP-level checksum, and the checksum is not recalculated at each router hop. Most link-layer technologies already have checksum and error-control abilities, because of that, eliminating the IP-level checksum was possible. Besides, the majority of transport layers that control end-to-end connectivity also hold checksum that lets error detection.

Directed data flow

The new IPv6 supports multicast, which allows bandwidth-intensive packet flows. They can be carried to various destinations simultaneously and save network bandwidth. Hosts that are not interested will no longer process broadcast packets. Moreover, the IPv6 header has a new field. It is called Flow Label, and it can recognize packets that belong to the related flow.

Simple network arrangement

IPv6 comes with a built-in auto-configuration for address assignment.

A router is going to send the prefix of the local link in its router advertisements. Therefore, a host can produce its personal IP address via adding its link-layer (MAC) address, transformed in Extended Universal Identifier (EUI) 64-bit arrangement, to the 64 bits of the local link prefix.

New services support

Actual end-to-end connectivity at the IP layer is reconstructed by excluding Network Address Translation (NAT). Additionally were enabled brand-new and helpful services. As a result, peer-to-peer networks are much easier to make and sustain, plus services like VoIP and Quality of Service (QoS) are getting more robust.

Security

IPv6 has a boost with IPSec. It offers authentication, confidentiality, and data integrity. However, IPv4 ICMP packets have the potential to transfer malware, so usually, they are blocked by corporate firewalls. Yet, the firewalls may permit ICMPv6, which is the new appliance of the Internet Control Message Protocol for IPv6. The reason is IPSec is possible to be used to the packets of ICMPv6.