The internet will run out of IPv4 addresses this Thursday!

Link to original article.

So it looks like the governing body for IP addresses is giving out its last 5 blocks of IP addresses this Thursday. These are expected to last the world for 6 months or so. It appears as if the way they want to perform the transition is to go completely to IPv6 (which shouldn't ever run out) over the coming months. Facebook and Google apparently already have IPv6 addresses according to the article.

So let's imagine this scenario: large companies move to IPv6, IPv4 gets thrown out. Do we end up with corporate control of the internet, or will browsers have to support the legacy IPv4. Is there a way that the former IPv4 addresses can all be thrown out at some point down the line? It seems possible.

Also, what if the transition doesn't go smoothly? What happens when the IPs run out?

Originally posted by schlub
Link to original article.
What happens when the IPs run out?

dun dun dun

as a former IT tech, it's odd for me to say, but I have not pondered this in 5 years or more...a lot has changed. I need to run this through the ol' brain cage...thanks for the homework.

reply to post by schlub


Here is a very good article that describes the technical challenges faced:

Interoperability between IPv6 and IPv4

we use ipv6 which are really weird, specially if you join let's say game servers, manually.
I feel so greedy I have like 5 ips for myself

Look up subnetting in google or read this

en.wikipedia.org...

nothing to fear, there are many huge ip addresses held for no reason as well, doing just a little research you find this is not going to happen......look away nothing to see....

guess we will see computers for sale with a sticker IPV6 ready

Almost all new systems come with IPv6 functionality. IPv4 has approximately 4,294,967,296 unique addresses it can distribute based on its 32 bits. (the 32 bits allow this many different combinations of unique addresses)IPv6 adds more bits/octets.. It uses 128 bits to be exact so you can see that 128 bits will provide a huge increase in available ID's upon the adoption of IPv6. These two protocols already work in tandem, but IPv4 is the current standard. Both of these protocols will continue to work side by side until IPv4 is phased out. I know all Windows based systems from windows XP on have IPv6 capability. Linux is better prepared than Microsoft, so your Macs and Ubuntu/Debian/Samba systems are in good shape. This isn't as big of a problem as some are making it out to be though. This has been a known issue since IPv4 was first utilized, it just came quicker than most anticipated because of the technological boom of the past 10 years. I would say the majority of major corporations are IPv6 ready and the transition will be smooth. Being a network administrator kind of forced me to stay current with some of these issues. No worries folks. The intarwebz are in no danger.