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Despite what some believe, there is a limit to what you can
post on the Internet – an address limit. News stories are suggesting that the
Internet is on the verge of running out of available IP addresses, causing
major companies to develop new technologies and alternatives of their sites for
a new network.
Internet protocol addresses are numerical labels that are
used to direct Web traffic to specific locations. In the same way the telephone
companies can run out of phone numbers to give, the same is true online.
Of course, a new addressing system, IP version six (IPv6)
has already been developed; unfortunately, it is not compatible with the
current system, IPv4. The current protocol system was developed more than 30
years ago, and allows for approximately 4.3 billion possible addresses. With IPv6,
the number of possible address is said to be nearly-unlimited.
While telecommunications companies have already begun
updating their Internet and cellular networks, The Wall Street Journal
estimates that less than 0.25% of people have access to IPv6 connections at
this time. Major companies like Google, Yahoo, and Facebook will switch to the
new system for a day in June for the first wide-spread testing of the network.
As for consumers, there is unlikely to be any major impacts
as the transition to IPv6 would likely happen over a number of years. According
to networking experts, operating systems and routers purchased in the last
couple of years are said to work with the new addresses, while older equipment
will not.
Source: The
Wall Street Journal
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Re: Are We Pushing the Internet to its Limit?
