What Is IPv4?

The Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) was developed in 1983 by the

U.S. Department of Defense and has been used ever since. It uses 32-

bit addresses, and these addresses are divided into three parts:

network address, subnet mask, and host identifier.

Network Address
A network address contains an octet number and a broadcast address.

Octets represent individual units of information, such as binary zeros

and ones. A network address consists of eight bits, which represent

256 different values. For example, the value 0x01010000 is equal to

10.0.1.128.

Broadcast Address – A broadcast address is a special type of network

address that tells all hosts on a given network whether or not a packet

should be delivered to them. Broadcast packets contain no destination

address. And instead, they have a destination address of

255.255.255.255. Each time you send a packet to this address, every

computer on your local network receives it.

Subnet Mask
A subnet mask defines how many of the first 8 bits of each IP address

are actually used, and the remaining 24 bits are set to zero. Subnets

are groups of computers that share common characteristics and

usually include similar hardware and software. For instance, if you live

in a small town, you probably want to join a group with other people

who also live there.

Host Identifier
Each computer on your network has a unique ID called its host

identifier. Host identifiers define what kind of device a particular

computer is. For instance, a router might have a host identifier of

192.168.10.100. You can use the host identifier to identify specific

devices on your network.

How Does IPv4 Work?

When you send a packet from one computer to another, the source

computer calculates the destination address and sends the packet out

through the network. At this point, the packet is sent to the router. The

router looks at the destination address and determines where to

forward the packet. If the destination address matches the router’s

address, then the router forwards the packet to the correct interface.

Otherwise, the router drops the packet.

If the router doesn’t know where to forward the packet, it will try to

find the next hop. To do this, it checks the router table. The router

table lists known routers that connect to the current router. When the

router finds a match, it updates the entry in the table so that future

packets will be forwarded to the corresponding router.

If the router cannot route the packet, it will attempt to find a default

gateway. A default gateway is a router that connects directly to the

internet, and Routers don’t always have a default gateway. However,

when a router does not have a default gateway, it assumes that the

closest router connected to the internet is the default gateway.

The final step is to update the forwarding tables on the router. The

router uses these tables to determine where to forward any

subsequent packets.

What Is IPv6?
IPv6 is an extension of the existing IPv4 protocol. It provides greater

flexibility than IPv4. IPv6 offers better security because it uses

stronger encryption techniques. IPv6 also supports more advanced

features such as Quality of Service (QoS) and Multi-Protocol Label

Switching (MPLS).

IPv6 Addresses – An IPv6 address consists of eight groups of

hexadecimal digits separated by colons. Each group represents 16 bits

of data. An IPv6 address is 128 bits long.

A typical IPv6 address has two parts:

Prefix – Contains the first 64 bits of the address.

Interface ID – Contains the next 64 bits of the address
For example, the following is an IPv6 address:

2001:0DB8:0000:C000::1/64

This address is composed of three parts:

 2001 – Identifies this as an IPv6 address.
0DB8 – Indicates that this part of the address is made up of 8 bits.
0000 – Identifies this as the third octet of the address.
C000 – Identifies this as a zero value.
::1/64 – Identifies this as being a subnet mask with 64 bits of
space.
/64 – This part of the address is a subnet prefix.

How Does IPv6 Work?

IPv6 has two parts: the network layer and the transport layer.

Network Layer

The network layer provides a reliable mechanism for sending and

receiving data between computers. If a user wants to send a file to

someone else, they must first establish a connection between their

computers. Once the connection is established, the sender transmits

the file to the receiver.

To transmit the file, the sender needs to know what port the receiver is

listening on. Port numbers are assigned by IANA, which stands for

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. Each device has a specific port

number associated with it. For example, if you’re working on a laptop,

the port number might be 8080.

Transport Layer
The transport layer handles all the details involved in transmitting

data. One of the main functions of the transport layer is to ensure that

packets arrive safely at their destinations. Packets are broken up into

smaller pieces called datagrams, and these datagrams are then

transmitted across the internet until they reach their destination.

Each packet contains an identifier called a “header” that tells routers

where to send the packet. The header also includes the destination

address, and the router uses the destination address to determine

whether or not to forward the packet.

Once the router receives the packet, it sends a copy of itself as a

response. The router waits for the other end to acknowledge receipt of

the packet. When the acknowledgement arrives, the router knows that

the packet arrived successfully.