 |
| Image via Wired |
What does this mean for us? Well, nothing. At least not yet, for the average Internet user. Basically, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) distributes blocks of IP addresses to five regional registries, which give the IP addresses to companies, ISPs, and telcos. The IANA ran out of IP addresses to give to regional registries, so soon the regional registries will run out of their address pools to give out to clients. This means there won't be unique IP addresses available anymore, starting as soon as this year in Asia.
So what do we do about it? There is an alternative. IPv6 is the next generation of IP addresses, and has 2128 available in its system. So why haven't we done it yet? Less than 0.25 percent of the Internet can currently work with IPv6. In short: it will take a lot of work, and most companies are putting it off because "it's expensive and hard!"
It may take a while to switch over to IPv6, and for a few years Internet may become more expensive, more difficult, slower, and have more problems. The good news is, once we get completely switched over, we shouldn't run out of IP addresses again. These IP problems may not affect you personally for quite a while, but you will most likely hear about it again in the near future. In fact, if you happen to own a website, you may even want to participate in World IPv6 Day.
I'm personally interested, because I plan on starting my own website soon, and I'm curious how it will affect me. Joel Conover, the senior manager for IPv6 at Cisco said, "The companies that are going to be the most aggressive in implementing IPv6 are the ones that are the most-concerned about your experience on their website," and I want all users to have a good experience at my website.
If you want more detailed explanations of all of this, you can read the full article at wired.com. I did my best trying to explain it, but it gets pretty technical, and I am trying to keep it brief. I also think that Alt Text at Wired explained it in an interesting and easy-to-understand way (skip to Internet Runs out of Parking Spots).
2 comments:
Wow, I am in the group that had no idea that the internet had an end. I cannot believe just a few days ago all the IP addresses have been used. I wonder how websites are going to handle and go about this change. I hope is flows smoothly in the years to come. I would hate to have to pay more for slower internet. Very informative post Brandi!
I was in that group, too, until I read the article! Sounded crazy to me.
I think it would have happened more smoothly if they had started it when IPv6 became available, which was 10 years ago. They've all put it off because it would be expensive, even though they new our current IPs would run out.
Post a Comment