IPv6 and Services
Take a moment to imagine the future and the technology of the future. Can you imagine your morning alarm telling the coffee machine to start a cup of coffee while simultaneously starting your shower? Or maybe your car drives itself to the office that morning? One key element to these visions of the future is connectivity. All devices and products must communicate with another for this vision to work. It is evident in the products being designed today, like Philips Hue and WeMo power outlets, that our society is preparing for a new era of connectivity. Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is a key infrastructural change that is enabling this revolution.
What is IPv6?
Internet Protocol (IP) refers to the methods in which computers communicate to the Internet. In basic terms, it is a language that allows computers to send data across the Internet. Each computer is given an IP address, similar to houses and their individual street addresses. IPv6 specifically refers to Internet Protocol Version 6. Traditionally computers used IPv4, which are identified with 32-bit numbers. IPv4 has over 4.3 billion IP addresses but with the increased number of personal devices being connected to the Internet, IP addresses are quickly being exhausted. IPv4 was intended for experimental and government use (Internet Society) and not for way the world uses the Internet today. As of 2010, 95% of IPv4 addresses were sold.
The solution is IPv6, which operates using 128-bit numbers. This means over 340 undecillion addresses are available (that’s 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 IP addresses). It is designed for the growth of products that connect to the Internet.
How does this affect the average user?
In 2012, The Internet Society held the ‘World IPv6 Launch’. Larger Internet providers and online companies (i.e. Google, Yahoo) launched IPv6 sites. Even though that was over three years ago, the average Internet user probably has not realized. IPv4 and IPv6 are currently running simultaneously. It is not simple to switch to IPv6, companies must purchase new IP addresses, hardware, software, networking equipment and testing. Eventually though, all devices will run on IPv6 in order to maintain high speeds and connectivity (CNet). The exhaustion of IPv4 addresses made the switch inevitable.
IPv6 and Services
The ultimate reasoning behind the creation of IPv6 is the ability to connect more devices in the future. We no longer have IPv4 addresses to assign. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the next generation of connectivity, allowing physical devices and the digital world to seamlessly connect. Each will have its own IP address. Many products will be transformed with services (Bosch). Traditionally, products competed by being the best quality or the best price, but that will change with the IoT. Consumers now want products that are the best for specific goals in specific contexts. According to The World Economic Forum’s report on the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT):
“Businesses compete on their ability to deliver quantifiable results that matter to their customers in a specific place and time…companies will be able to take advantage of growing data streams to apply powerful analytics for insights that can enhance existing services, enrich customer experiences and create alternative revenue streams.”
Within the next decade, we can expect to see the number of devices connected to the Internet rise from 12.5 billion (2010) to 50 billion devices (Cisco). IPv6 is vital to enabling this growth and will transform the way we see the Internet.
As new tech products enter the market every year, we can thank IPv6 for enabling the innovation at your fingertips, like Philips Hue and FDA-approved BodyGuardian. Wilson Gibson put it best, “The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.”
Sources: Cisco: Internet of Things Infographic The World Economic Forum The Internet Society Cnet Accenture Bosch Software Innovations Re/Code
By Andrea Young and Storm Sampson