TO THE lay observer it seems like an infinite network
of computers, servers and cables stretching around the
globe.
But the worldwide web is filling up. So quickly, it
turns out, that programmers have had to devise a new
one.
Of the internet addresses available, more than three
quarters are already in use, and the remainder are
expected to be assigned by 2009. So, what will happen
as more people in developing countries come online?
The answer is IPv6, a new internet protocol that has
more spaces than the old one:
340,282,366,920,938,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000
spaces, in fact. “Currently there’s four billion
addresses available and there are six billion humans
on Earth, so there’s obviously an issue there,” said
David Kessens, chairman of the IPv6 working group at
RIPE, one of five regional internet registries in
charge of rolling it out.
Every device that is connected to the internet —
websites, computers and mobile phones — needs an
“internet address” to locate it on the network.
When the internet was developed in the 1980s,
programmers had no idea how big it would become. They
gave each address a “16-bit” number, which meant that
the total number of available addresses worked out at
about four billion (2 to the power of 32).
But as use grew, it became clear that the old
protocol, IPv4, wasn’t big enough, so a new one was
written based on “32-bit numbers”. That increased the
number of available addresses to 340 undecillion, 282
decillion, 366 nonillion, 920 octillion, 938
septillion — enough for the foreseeable future, Mr
Kessens said
