IPv4 Vs IPv6, stand for Internet Protocol Versions 4 and 6, respectively, and are both binary integers. IPv4 addresses are 32-bit binary numbers, but IPv6 addresses are 128-bit binary numbers. We use Periods (.) to separate IPv4 addresses, whereas we use colons to separate IPv6 addresses (::).
What is IPv4? IPv4 (basic IP) is in charge of addressing and routing packets between hosts that may be separated by hundreds of network segments. IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses, and because of this restricted address space, IPv4 networks are fast running out of addresses.
What is IPv6? IPv6 utilizes 128-bit addresses rather than the 32-bit addresses used by IPv4, it can specify many more addresses. IPv6 is being utilized via the internet with the use of tunnelling technologies because few Internet routers are IPv6 compliant. However, Windows Vista and Windows Server2008 LANs support IPv6 natively.
IPv4 Vs IPv6
| # | IPv4 | IPv6 |
| 1 | IPv4 addresses are 32 bits long. | A 128-bit address is used in IPv6. |
| 2 | IPv4 has a total address space of 4.29×109. | IPv6 has a maximum address space of 3.4×1038 addresses. |
| 3 | Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, and Class E are the five different types of IP addresses in IPv4. | IPv6 does not have any IP address classes. |
| 4 | Checksum fields are present in IPv4. | Checksum fields are not included in IPv6. |
| 5 | The IP address in IPv4 is represented as a decimal number. | The IP address is represented in hexadecimal in IPv6. |
| 6 | IPv4 does not provide encryption or authentication. | IPv6 provides encryption and authentication. |
| 7 | IPv4 contains a 20-60 byte header. | IPv6 has a fixed header of 40 bytes. |
| 8 | IPv4 is supported by SNMP. | IPv6 is not supported by SNMP. |
| 9 | For traffic and “private” addresses, IPv4 employs globally unique public addresses. | Local addresses and globally unique unicast addresses are used in IPv6. |
| 10 | IPv4 uses 0.0.0.0 as an undetermined address and 127.0.0.1 as a loopback address. | Unspecified and loopback addresses are used in IPv6 as :: and ::1. |
| 11 | Senders and forwarding routers are responsible for fragmentation. | Only the senders are responsible for fragmentation. |
Another difference between IPv4 and IPv6
Apart from the above differences, there are a number of more.
- Version 4 of the Internet Protocol (IPv4) is a packet-switched link layer network protocol (such as Ethernet). The overall address capacity of IPv4 is around 4.3 billion addresses. IPv6 is a more sophisticated version of the Internet Protocol that may supply an endless number of addresses. It is intended to replace IPv4 in order to handle the expanding number of networks throughout the world and to resolve the issue of IP address depletion.
- When compared to IPv4, IPv6 has a lot more useful addresses.
- In comparison to IPv4, IPv6 is more suited to mobile networks.
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