Updated June 15, 2023
Introduction to IPV6
The following article provides an outline for IPV6 Features. The IPV6 stands for Internet Protocol Version 6, the most recent version of Internet protocol developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF); it is the next-generation Internet protocol standard intended to replace IPV4 and many Internet services using the protocol eventually. IPV6 is the 128 bits address with eight sections called hextets. It is a network protocol layer used to communicate and transfer data over the network. The devices on a network can use it as a source and destination address to pass packets over a network for the long-term health of the internet; IPV6 is essential.
Various IPV6 Features
Given below are the various IPV6 Features:
1. Larger Address Space
The IPV6 uses four times more bits for addressing a device on the internet as compared to IPV4, and the space provided by it is 3.4 x 10 ^ 38 devices; the address space provided by IPV6 may fulfill the requirement to allocate addresses all over the world means it can be allocated to everywhere on the earth in a square meter, this the main feature of the IPV6.
2. Simplified Header
The header of the IPV6 is twice bigger as the header provided by IPV4. On the other hand, the address provided by it is 4× more than IPV4, IPV6 header is not complex but easy to process, while in IPV4, the header is complex, so by simplifying in IPV6, we need to move all the information from the header of it to the end of its header.
3. End-to-end Connectivity
The end-to-end connectivity feature in internet protocol, as of now, every system has an IP address that is to be unique. Anycast enables seamless communication across the internet without translating other components. The internet fully implements Anycast, enabling direct access between every host. Still, there may have some restrictions like firewalls and policies of the organization may restrict.
4. Auto-configuration
The auto-configuration is the process of verifying the uniqueness of a link; it also determines the information that should be auto-configured; it supports stateful configuration mode to keep track of each assignment as well as it also supports the stateless auto-configuration in which there is no need to configure manually because it automatically generates the IPV6 addresses.
5. Faster Routing or Forwarding
The information which is present in the first part of the header is enough to make routing decisions. As we know, this is the simplified header feature, as we have seen above, and due to the information present in the header, the IPV6 can make routing decisions faster; in this, we can say that IPV6 is faster in routing.
6. IPSec
IPV6 provides an optional feature that enhances security in the form of IPSec, which surpasses IPV4 in terms of security. IPSec operates at the network or packet processing layer to ensure network security.
7. Aggregation
The aggregation is another feature of IPV6, which allows using a single prefix for the entire network, which is easy and flexible to promote efficient and scalable routing.
8. No Broadcast
The IPV6 uses a multicast address instead of a broadcast address because it does not support the broadcast address; by using a multicast address, it communicates with multiple hosts; it also has anycast mode, which is a new type of address, a network device sends a packet to a multicast address then the device broadcast the packet to all interfaces which are identified by the address.
9. Anycast Support
IPV6 provides the feature of Anycast, which serves as a mode of packet routing; on the internet, by using the anycast mode, the same anycast IP address can assign multiple interfaces; we can say that this is the address we can assign to multiple interfaces or set of interfaces, in this way IPV6 support the anycast.
10. Mobility
This feature of IPV6 allows the host, like a mobile phone, to keep the device connected in different geographic areas by using the same IP address; the mobility in IPV6 can assign an IP address to the mobile node within its home network, and the mobile node of the home address is useful to reach their destination.
11. Enhanced Priority Support
This is another feature of the IPV6 to check the priority support that IPV4 provides the quality of services where it uses 6 bits Differential Service Code Point that is DSCP, and 2 bits Explicit Congestion Notification is ECN, but that can be used only when there is an end-to-end devices support so the underlying network like source and destination may support to it.
12. Smooth Transition
The smooth transition is the transition technique in IPV6 which is upgraded from IPV4 based on the up-to-date IPV6 technique by the feature of the large IP address in IPV6 allows to assign the same IP address globally so devices can send and receive data within the network, the router in it can forward the decisions quickly rather the header is less loaded. Another enhancement is that all routers in one path must recalculate IPV6 packets instead of error detection, which the data link layer handles.
13. Extensibility
Extensibility is the major advantage of the IPV6; it is extensible so that it can add more information in the options section; the IPV6 has a large size packet whereas the IPV4 has less than IPV6 so that IPV4 can support 40-byte options only, in this way of adding extension header after the IPV6 header IPV6 can easily be extended. The size of its extension is mannered by the size of its packets.
Conclusion – IPV6 Features
In this article, we have seen some important features of Internet Protocol Version 6; we conclude that IPV6 is the latest version of Internet Protocol that overcame IPV4 by taking new features. The main difference is the addressing, which allows connecting more devices.
Recommended Articles
This is a guide to IPV6 Features. Here we discuss the introduction and various IPV6 features for a better understanding. You may also have a look at the following articles to learn more –
