IPv6 protocol
IPv6 protocol is a successor of the IPv4 protocol, which is currently widely used on the internet. Its specification was developed in the 90's of the last century. One of the reasons was a thread of IPv4 address space exhaustion. Besides the bigger address pool new IPv6 protocol comes with support of QoS, implementation of security mechanisms, support of mobile devices or automatic device configuration.
With the IPv6 protocol bit length of the address is increased four times. Instead of the original 232 (4294967296) there are now 2128 (340282366920938463463374607431768211456) addresses available. IPv6 address space is divided into several groups, global addresses are assigned from the 2000::/3 pool. According to the published hypotheses, the IPv4 address space exhaustion is expected in July 2012.
NIX.CZ has allowed IPv6 peerings for its members and customers since the year 2003. Recently, 50 of 107 connected networks to NIX.CZ are using this option.
On this page you can check, whether your computer is connected via IPv6 protocol, or not. Please note, that it is possible to use IPv6 protocol parallel to the IPv4 protocol.
Your IP address is: 38.107.191.104, so you're connected by the IPv4 protocol.In case of the IPv6 connection you'll see another icon:
IPv6 traffic statistics at NIX.CZ
32bit AS numbers
Beside the IPv4 address pool exhaustion there was need to solve a similar problem for numbers of autonomous systems used for BGP router identification, as autonomous system numbers are given out, too. The original pool contained 216 (65536) autonomous system numbers, by the new specification it was boosted to 232 (4294967296). This enlargement is still compatible with routers, which do not support 32bit autonomous system numbers. Exhaustion of current 16bit pool is expected in June 2011. RIPE registry is providing 32bit autonomous system numbers for new requests since the beginning of year 2009 implicitly.