More internet addresses, more user-to-user payments: the joy of IPV6 - CoinGeek

If you already cognize that erstwhile a machine goes online, it has an IP address—whatever that whitethorn be—then you are halfway to decoding the mysterious acronym IPv6. The different fractional is easy: V6 is “version 6.” 

You whitethorn adjacent person much familiarity with IP than you had realised if you are vaguely alert of TCP/IP—which is the mode computers communicate, done “Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.” So, yes, IP is “internet protocol”—not to beryllium confused with IP arsenic successful “intellectual property,” the main quality being that the second provides acold much enactment for lawyers than the machine kind.

I was fortunate capable to person an mentation of IPv6 connected this week’s CoinGeek Conversations from Alessio Pagani, a elder researcher astatine nChain, the London blockchain improvement company. Dr. Pagani besides has a PhD successful Information Technology and is an IMI (Institute of Mathematical Innovation) Industrial Fellow astatine the University of Bath. 

Alessio explained that though IPv6 has been astir for decades, astir networks inactive usage IPv4—version four. (The different versions—1, 2, 3 and 5—which cipher has ever heard of, were trial versions and ne'er extensively used.)

IPv4 has worked good ever since it was developed successful the 1970s. But Alessio says that a occupation is emerging that was not foreseen backmost then: the IP code format relies connected a 32-bit address—in different words, 2 multiplied by 2 32 times, which produces 4.3 cardinal imaginable addresses. And that’s conscionable not capable for today’s connected world:

“We are 7 cardinal connected this planet. We person a batch of IoT devices. I work precocious a study saying that by 2025 we volition person much than 30 cardinal devices connected to the internet. If you deliberation astir astute watches, you deliberation astir TVs, everything is present connected to the internet. The occupation is that we don’t person capable abstraction for that. So we request a larger code space.”

And that’s where IPv6 comes in, with a vastly accrued capacity: 

“This could beryllium done with IPv6. Now we person 128 bits, which means 340 trillion, trillion, trillion addresses.”

Unfortunately, changing to IPv6 isn’t conscionable a question of flipping a switch, since caller web hardware is required, which is costly to bargain and to install. 

Whilst determination are bully reasons for networks and businesses to power to IPv6, nChain is funny due to the fact that of the further features it tin connection for Bitcoin SV businesses—allowing nonstop micropayments betwixt users successful a mode that was not wholly unafraid connected IPv4: 

“In the archetypal node bundle implementation, determination was really a diagnostic called IP to IP payments. Then this was removed due to the fact that it was not safe. There were immoderate techniques to bargain payments and present we are trying to re-enable it, acknowledgment to IPv6. There are immoderate tricks to nonstop payments utilizing IPv4… the occupation is that this is not efficient. This could airs immoderate information issues, truthful it’s not casual to bash it connected IPv4. That’s wherefore we are focusing connected IPv6.”

In that sense, IPv6 allows Bitcoin to fulfil its archetypal vision, arsenic headlined successful the White Paper, which was headlined: Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer physics currency system. 

Hear the full of Dr Alessio Pagani’s interrogation successful this week’s CoinGeek Conversations podcast oregon drawback up with different caller episodes:

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