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3 April 2021

Difference between IPV4 and IPV6

IPV4 and IPV6 are internet protocol versions 4 and 6. IP version 6 is the new version of IP, which is way better than IP version 4 in terms of complexity and efficiency. So here this article gives the difference between IPV4 and IPV6 to better understand this topic.

What is IPV4?

The Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPV4) is the first version of the protocol (IP). In 1983, it was made available for development on the ARPANET. It is currently the most commonly used IP version. It is used in conjunction with an addressing scheme to classify devices on a network. IPV4 is the 32-bit address scheme allowing to store 2^32 addresses which is more than 4 billion addresses.

What is IPV6?

IPV6 is the most current internet protocol version. It was started by the Internet engineer task force in early 1994. IPV6 is the name given to the design and production of that suite. It was created with the aim of resolving problems with the IPV4 version. It makes 340 undecillion unique address space with 128-bit address space. IPV6 is also known as IPNG.

Difference between IPV4 and IPV6:

  • IPV4 is a 32 bit IP address but the  IPV6 is a 128 bit IP address.
  • IPV4 is binary bits are separated by a dot while the IPV6 binary bits are separated by a colon.
  • IPV4 is a numeric addressing Method while IPV6 is an alphanumeric addressing method.
  • IPV4 offers 12 header fields whereas IPV6 offers 8 header fields.
  • IPV4 uses ARP to map to MAC address whereas IPV6 uses NDP to map to MAC address.
  • IPV4 supports VLSM whereas IPV6 doesn't support VLSM.
  • Security features are dependent on the application, while the IPSEC is an inbuilt security feature in the IPV6 protocol.
  • IPV4 has checksum fields while IPV6 doesn't have checksum fields.
  • IPV4 supports broadcast whereas IPV6 doesn't support broadcast.
  • IPV4 supports the manual and DHCP address configuration process, while IPV6 supports auto and renumbering address configuration.
  • IPV4 end-to-end connection integrity is unachievable, while the IPV6 end-to-end connection integrity is achievable.
  • IPV4 the fragmentation performed by sender and forwarding routers, while the IPV6 fragmentation performed only by the sender.
  • IPV4 has a header of 20-60 bytes, while IPV6 has a header of 40 bytes fixed.
  • IPV4 packet flow identification is not available, while the IPV6 packet flow identification is available and uses the flow label field in the header.
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