Difference Between IPV4 and IPV6
Difference Between IPV4 and IPV6
IPv4 & IPv6 are both IP addresses that are binary numbers. IPv4 is 32 bit binary number while IPv6 is 128 bit binary number address. IPv4 address are separated by periods while IPv6 address are separated by colons.
What is IPv4?
IPv4 was the first version of IP. It was deployed for production in the ARPANET in 1983. Today it is most widely used IP version. It is used to identify devices on a network using an addressing system. It is Connectionless Protocol. It requires less memory, and ease of remembering addresses
What is IPv6?
It is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol. Internet Engineer Taskforce initiated it in early 1994. The design and development of that suite is now called IPv6.
| Basis for Differences | IPv4 | IPv6 |
|---|---|---|
| Size of IP address | IPv4 is a 32-Bit IP Address. | IPv6 is 128 Bit IP Address. |
| Addressing method | IPv4 is a numeric address, and its binary bits are separated by a dot (.) | IPv6 is an alphanumeric address whose binary bits are separated by a colon (:). It also contains hexadecimal. |
| Example | 192.168.1.4 | 2002:0db3:0000:0000:0000:ff00:0023:2379 |
| Type of Addresses | Unicast, broadcast, and multicast. | Unicast, multicast, and anycast. |
| Number of classes | IPv4 offers five different classes of IP Address. Class A to E | lPv6 allows storing an unlimited number of IP Address. |
| DNS records | Address (A) records, maps hostnames | Address (AAAA) records, maps hostnames |
| Addressing | IPv4 is a numeric addressing method | IPv6 is an alphanumeric addressing method. |
| VLSM support | IPv4 supports VLSM (Virtual Length Subnet Mask) | IPv6 doesn’t support VLSM. |
| Mapping | IPv4 uses ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) to map to MAC address | IPv6 uses NDP (Neighbour Discovery Protocol) to map to MAC address. |
| Comparability with mobile devices | IPv4 address uses the dot-decimal notation. That's why it is not suitable for mobile networks. | IPv6 address is represented in hexadecimal, colon- separated notation. IPv6 is better suited to mobile networks |
Note: IPv4 and IPv6 cannot communicate with other but can exist together on the same network. This is known as Dual Stack.