A new range of internet "telephone numbers" will be
activated today (2 February) to allow more devices to connect to
the internet in the future.
The release of the new standard will allow more devices to
connect to the internet in the same way that changes to dialling
codes in tradtional telephone numbers allow more phones to connect
to a network.
Master address books used by the internet to direct traffic are
being updated today to interpret IP addresses prepared in a new
format known as
IP Version 6 (IPV6).
All devices that connect to the internet require a unique IP
address. At present, internet addresses are written in a format
called
Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4).
But because the number of devices connecting to the internet are
increasing, the IPv4 will exhaust its supply of addresses by
2011.
The switchover today means that computers using IPv6, typically
a PC and a server, can find each other without involving any IPv4
technology.
Claranet is one UK internet provider to give
IPv6 capabilities to its customers.
"Internet address space will start running out in two years time
unless ISPs adopt the new verson of the internet protocol, IPv6,
across their networks. Although modern computers, servers, routers
and other online devices are able to use IPv6, many ISPs have yet
to implement the system," Dave Freedman, Claranet's Group Network
Manager.