Posted on 07/21/2004 1:52:09 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
Relief is on the way for the Web-address crunch, in the way of a technology that can provide every person and just about every device on the planet with an IP (Internet Protocol) address.
In response to the rapid growth in the use of the Web, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) announced Tuesday at a board meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that it has added next-generation IPv6 technology to its root DNS (domain name system) servers, essentially enabling every person and every device to grab an IP address.
The move has been prompted by growing concerns that today's system, based on IPv4, could soon become overloaded and run out of domain addresses.
IPv6 quadruples the size of the Internet address field from 32 bits to 128 bits, resulting in the potential availability of trillions of additional addresses. These will give not only every human an address but also every cell phone, refrigerator, washing machine and device that could be imaginably linked to the Internet, according to ICANN
On Tuesday, the TLDs (top level domains) of Japan and Korea (.jp and .kr) became the first to support IPv6, with France expected to follow shortly, ICANN said.
ICANN, in Marina del Ray, California, is the global nonprofit organization responsible for coordinating the Internet's naming and numbering systems.
Don't laugh. Just wait until bathroom fixtures join the IP party.
My garbage disposal unit spoofed my addy and used it to make a move on the can opener. Dang good thing Dinty Moore uses zip-top cans now or I might starve to death...
HTTP:\\56.213.168.0.45.36.224.90.29.154.89.141\default.htm
MORE than than ...
2^32 = 4.3 billion = 4.3 X 10 to the 9th power = 4.3 E+09
2^128 = 3400 decillion = 3.4 x 10 to the 38th power = 3.4 E+38
Or bascially more internet addresses than protons on Earth
Oh, yeah? What about when you want to start the washing machine from the office so that the wash will be done when you get home? Huh? Well, HUH?
Ok, ok.....I'm still working on a reason for your frig to have an IP.
If you fridge had an Ip it could tell you how much electricity it was using, if it broke, what the the temperature was, and if you were out of beer.
So it can email the grocery store with the items you need and your grocery order can be ready for pickup or delivery without intervention.
That last is the main reason. The idea is that the fridge will read the RFID in every product inside it, and track what you like to buy. When it detects that you are running out/low on things it will either notify you, generate your shopping list and upload it to your local grocery store so you can retrieve it easily, or just place an order for you to be delivered without your involvement.
If your toilet had an IP address, you could configure your mail client to automatically forward your spam there.
We would have had more IP addresses if they hadn't dedicated a whole class A for loopback.
Many standards and another one is to have colons separate the numbers instead of periods.
You house can have it's own Class P network, and it can get an address from the DHCP server in the telephone.
"I can't wait for my coffe maker to have its own IP address."
Me too, so I can DoS your coffee maker. >:->
I heard somewhere that it was enough for the known universe. Somehow I think we will come up with a way to exhaust even this number.
"So it can email the grocery store with the items you need and your grocery order can be ready for pickup or delivery without intervention."
YEAH! THAT'S IT! And the robot, who has an IP through satellite, can go to the grocery store to pick up the goods for you!
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