Running out of Internet?

While the space and content of the Internet is virtually unlimited, the amount of users based on our current I.P. system IS running out. So for those non 'techy' people, you ask "What is an I.P.?" An IP is the series of numbers separated by a period; for example: 192.168.1.1 (Standard for connecting to an in house router). The way we get an IP address is from an internet service provider, such as comcast, wow, at&t, etc. Through these providers, you are given access to a single IP address, or sometimes a pool that everyone shares. They are how website URLs work, and how others can communicate with each other from across the world. It's an integral part of how technology communicates with other technology. Phones also are given IP addresses.

So if that's the case, how on earth are we running out of addresses for devices? Well, if you do the math on the quantity of addresses, which range from 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255, you end up with approximated 4 billion addresses. The problem is that there are almost that many devices in the world today, and the market for said devices is only expanding. As more and more people get computers and smart phones, and more people enter that market, the demand for these addresses will continue to increase. These numbers are controlled by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA,) so blame them. (just kidding)



What are we going to do? Well, in 1998 the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) devised a new number scheme called IPv6 under RFC2460 (Click the RFC to read the official document if you want to be very confused.) IPv6 uses a number scheme called hexadecimal, which uses the numbers 0-9, and letters A-F to create new combinations of addresses. An IPv6 example IP address would look something like: 2001:db8:0:1234:0:567:1:1. Very different huh? Well with this convention, a ton more addresses are possible. To give you an idea of how many more... There would be enough addresses for everyone on the planet to have 4 billion unique IPs for their PERSONAL devices. That's a LOT of addresses. If I had to guess, we'll be transferring gradually as the addresses run out over the next several years.

Those who already have IP addresses don't really have to worry, seeing as how you already have it. What we'll be seeing is a hybrid network that accommodates both IPv4 and IPv6 for a while, as there's no really need or rush to get everyone off of IPv4. While IPv6 has other benefits (that are far too nerdy to post here), IPv4 is good enough for now. Expect to see IPv4 run out of addresses before 2012.