Y2K-Type Fears Loom Again as Internet Runs Out of Addresses
Where Have All the Addresses Gone...When Will They Ever Learn?
ARIN says that consumers don't need to worry about the coming change to IPv6, which will use 128-bit addresses (providing for trillions of IP addresses for every square mile on Earth!). The change will mostly be handled by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). But there will probably be a few hiccups along the way, and there may even be a black market for IP addresses develop if the changes occur too slowly.
IPv6 adds a number of features beyond more available addresses. It will enhance speed and security of the underlying packet transmissions, with more efficient and cheaper communications. Of course, this will probably not be reflected in user costs, as ISPs will have to spend money to upgrade their equipment to the new standard. The IPv6 standard was released in December 1998, but has been slow to be adopted, partly because people thought until recently that we had enough IP addresses to last for several decades yet.
As of December, there were only about 100 million addresses left. There were over a billion left in June 2006. At the current rate of usage, we will run out soon. In fact, according to Wikipedia, "it is expected on February 3rd, 2011, that there will be a formal announcement in the US that IPv4 addresses have been completely exhausted." What will you do when the "No Vacancy" signs pop up on the Internet?
REFERENCES
Published by Mike Oberg
I am a retired engineer who enjoys photography. I post slideshows of my pictures and write articles on a range of topics. My daughter Maria Roth and my wife Mary Oberg are both AC contributors. View profile
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39 Comments
Post a CommentThey run out of everything...cause mass panic...then quickly figure out a way to fix it. Always happens, probably always will.
What? No residence on the Internet? Why, it's the end of the world as we know it ;)
Very interesting, I'm sure they'll figure it out. One thing I've learned from the news is that reporters like to cause unnecessary panic. Remember Y2K? ;)
Great article Mike. We could recycle all the porn sites and recoup about 65% of them.
:-) - playing ketsup - very good info
Smart phones added unexpected use.
Well now what's going to happen next?
Oops!
The telephone company thought it would run out of area codes. They figured out new ones. The computer folks will figure this one out, too.
Enjoyed your subtitle:)