The internet has seen an unprecedented network growth in the recent past. But According to the standard protocol there is a limitation in the number of IPs that can be supported. This hinted at a possibility that with the increasing number of devices the internet is about to run out of IP addresses very soon. The proposed solution is about to be implemented next week.

On June 6 all major Internet service providers (ISPs), home networking equipment manufacturers, and web companies around the world are coming together to permanently enable IPv6 for their products and services. It is the Internet Protocol version 6 which will allow 2^128 address spaces that can support billions of devices to connect to internet and it will also improve the QoS (Quality of Service) parameters in services including video and audio. The list of companies to shift to IPv6 includes Facebook, Google, Yahoo, AT&T, Cisco, and Akamai to name a few.

On June 8 2011, some companies tried out the IPv6 addresses for a day. The check was done to look for any issues that may crop up when the final transition from IPv4 to the new protocol is made. "Last year’s industry-wide test of IPv6 successfully showed that its global adoption is the best way to keep web devices communicating in the future.” saidJay Parikh, VP of Infrastructure Engineering at Facebook.

This change to IPv6 is not going to affect end users too much. The 4 digit IP addresses will change to 6 digit addresses and there will a large number of IP addresses available for users.

 “The Internet has grown to be an essential part of our daily lives. It connects our devices to our apps; more importantly, it connects us to each other. Yahoo! is proud to be a part of the World IPv6 Launch – an event that marks the next chapter of our Internet. IPv6 enables the Internet to grow, while remaining open and accessible to new applications and new ideas.” said Jason Fesler, Distinguished Architect and IPv6 Evangelist, Yahoo!

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