Running Head: IPV4 TO IPV6 TO DNS

Unit 1: IPv4 to IPv6 to DNS
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Kaplan University

IT530-01
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Abstract
IPv4 is the current standard by which the internet routes connections over the internet by using DNS to make those connections easier to perform. However IPv6 will be replacing that to meet the needs of the growing internet by providing many more addresses that are required to add more connection addresses to the internet. At the same time this is created to add more needed addresses IPv6 has improved the way the data is handled and processed with new security features.

IPv4 to IPv6 to DNS
IPv4 and IPv6 and how the differences between these two different Internet Protocols will change how the DNS connects systems over the internet. To understand these changes we will need to start from the beginning and breakdown what all these terms mean and how each works together to get a better understanding.
What is an IP and how does it work? IP is short for Internet Protocol, and what that means in general is the address of a device or a machine. It could be viewed as a phone number or way to label a device or address in order to contact that machine or device in order to transfer data back and forth to that device.
The first version of the Internet Protocol or IP was version 4 or IP4. It is a 32 bit address in that there are 4 numbers represented in a binary value of 8 bits for each of the 4 bytes comes to a total of 32 bits. This means that the internet is capable of being represented by 232which is 4,294,967,296potentially available address points in which can be connected to. As this sounds like a lot of available connections if you consider that there are almost 7 billion mobile devices currently active in the world if only half of those devices are able to access the internet each device alone is capable of consuming almost all of the available internet addresses available. This would not be counting the billions to websites that each requires a way to be contacted in some method of address, and there are other devices that are able to be connected to the internet such as home video game systems.
As when the internet was created it was never assumed that there would be so many devices attempting to be on the internet at the same time and a new way to addressing devices needed to be developed in order to meet this growing demand and it needed to be able to grow with the need and also taking into account the growth of the internet and the need for available addresses it needed to be large enough that it would not yet again require this kind of change in the near future.
This new standard of IP was version 6, which was a version of IP that was extended from a 32 bit representation to a 128 which could be represented in the value of 2128 which is 3.403x 1038 in scientific notation or 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 available addresses. This number is in comparison to the estimated number of people on our planet of 6.6x 109gives each person on earth the rough estimate of 51,557,934,381,960,373,252,026,455,671 per person.
Now this may be an extreme value to many but because this change is such a large scale change and more devices are going to be demanding their own direct IP address and they needed to create a method with a useable number that computers currently utilize which is represented by the base-2 numbering system or 8 bit byte values.
The new IPv6 or what has been called “IPng” (Internet Protocol Next Generation) is an address that is represented as 16 bytes represented by a value of 8 sets of 4 hexadecimal numbers which is 128 bits in total. This numbering system is so radically different that the way in which it operates is currently not interchangeable with the way the internet currently uses the IPv4 system to route information from one point to another however it will co-exist with the current IPv4 until such time as to retire the old system, as it will take some time to ensure everyone has transitioned over and is using the new standard.
Routing which is done via a DNS server (Domain Name System) is a list of names that are associated with a known IP address. This list is maintained by the InterNIC which is an organization that was created by the US Department of Commerce.
The DNS provides access to IP addresses via a named address which allows others to find other systems quickly with a name so that the actual IP address is not required. For instance to be able to locate a company for the most part you can use the name of that company to locate them, for example www.microsoft.com would take you to Microsoft’s website which the actual location is 64.4.11.42. http://64.4.11.42/en-us/default.aspx will take you to the site however this is not an efficient way to obtain routing information to locate this website for access as much as having the DNS to route to the site via a name.
The routing from IPv4 to IPv6 is a slightly different format but for the most part the way in which the list is saved and maintained is almost the same with some minor variations due to the way the 128 number is expressed in hexadecimal to the IPv4’s 32 bit format.
The real difference besides the extremely large amount of additional addresses available is how the IPv6 packet header is constructed over the IPv4 header. This IPv4 header had information in it that made it inefficient and it also did not provide any security. This IPv6 header is slimmed down and includes both the options to include security and authentication information and it also provides true details on how the data packet should be handled to provide additional QoS (Quality of Service) support.
In closing the IPv4 was designed at a time when the current size of the internet was nothing near what it is today and what is expected tomorrow and that standard has worked reasonably well since that time. However the new IPv6 is not only going to provide an almost limitless number of address but provides additional security and authentication and quality standards to improve how it is handled and the secure manner in which it is handled. IPv6 is a standard that was much needed to meet the ever growing needs of the current internet and the services we have come to expect from networking our devices with the world and what we expect from tomorrow’s devices as the internet grows.
References
Comer, D. (2009). Computer networks and internets (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
IPv6 and the Domain Name System | Michigan Tech. (n.d.). Telecommunications | Michigan Technological University. Retrieved May 5, 2013, from http://www.tc.mtu.edu/ipv6/dns.php
IPv6 vs IPv4.com. (n.d.). IPv6 vs IPv4.com. Retrieved May 5, 2013, from http://www.ipv6vsipv4.com/
Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6). (n.d.). ieft.org. Retrieved May 5, 2013, from tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2460
Understanding IP Addressing - RIPE Network Coordination Centre. (n.d.). RIPE Network Coordination Centre. Retrieved May 5, 2013, from http://www.ripe.net/internet-coordination/press-centre/understanding-ip-addressing
What is IPv6 (IPng)? A Definition From the Webopedia.com Dictionary. (n.d.). Webopedia: Online Computer Dictionary for Computer and Internet Terms and Definitions. Retrieved May 5, 2013, from http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/I/IPng.html