This millennium had started with Y2K problem. Now this decade starts with IP Address shortage problem.
It is a unique number. It is assigned to a computer or device (printer, smart phone, etc...) to send or receive any data within network.
IPv4:
Currently we are using Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4). It was designed to provide 4 billion addresses. In the meantime we already used 95 percentages of the addresses. Moreover the remaining 5% is going to end within one year.
IPv6:
IPv6 is the new version of the Internet Protocol. It stands for Internet Protocol Version 6.
It is also known as Next Generation Internet Protocol.
IPv6 is considered as a successor of IPv4.
Difference between IPv6 and IPv4:
IPv6 address uses 128 bits whereas IPv4 uses only 32 bits.
IPv6 provides more than 4 trillion address whereas IPv4 offers only 4 billion address. There won't be any address problem in IPv6.
IPv6 supports a 1280 byte packet size whereas IPv4 supports a 576 byte packet size only.
Indian Government have ordered March 2012 is the deadline to migrate from IPv4 to IPv6.
IPv5:
You may raise question why IPv5 did not become a successor of IPv4.
Internet Stream Protocol (ST) is considered as Internet Protocol Version 5 (IPv5). It is developed for experimental purpose. So IPv5 is not going to become a official protocol. That's why IPv6 is known as a successor of IPv4.
