Internet Addresses will be 'all used up' next month?

[RU Joe]

Internet addresses to be used up in January: expert (http://beta.ca.news.yahoo.com/internet-addresses-used-january-expert-3.html)

Whoa, whoa, hold on a minute now.
The 'Super Computer' out at B.C.I.T. is supposed to have nearly infinite memory capacity, and as I understand it, it's the one the big companies have modeled their main systems on.
{they were bragging about this thing years ago - so further improvements must have been made in the meantime}

So basically I imagine the ones the Internet companies are using must be far more advanced than the prototype at the school.

Why are they announcing that all the Internet addresses are going to be used up, if they're {supposed to be} nearly infinite?

Have I overlooked something here?
And if it's true, and there will be no more as of next month, what then?

[Seahawk]

Each computer/server that connects to the internet is given an IP address because data needs a destination to be sent to. In this regard the term "Information Superhighway" is appropriate -- you don't drive on the highway with no destination, you are looking for a specific exit. It is the same principle here.

IPv4 addresses are stored in 32 bits.

2^32 = 4,294,967,296

So there are a little over 4 billion unique addresses to be given out.

When this was designed it was never imagined that this many devices would connect to the internet. But in recent years there has been an explosion of consumer devices that connect to the internet so the number of addresses is quickly reaching its limit.

To address this an alternative is being developed, IPv6. Addresses are stored in 128 bits.

2^128 = 3.4 x 10^38

In other words a heck of a lot of addresses.

[Kong]

An IPv4 address (the ones we use now) look like this 192.168.0.1. We have known we were going to run out soon for over a decade.
So IPv6 was invented and looks like this 000.192.168.0.1. Essentially adds an area code before it.

All operating systems made in the past 10 years are capable of handling IPv6 so all that is required is we all switch over. Not really a big deal, just lots of procrastinating and waiting until the last moment.

Currently most companies are using many times more IP addresses than they need to so even if we don't upgrade to IP6 the problem could be temporarily solved by those companies selling their extras.

If you think of IPs as phone numbers then it is like most people having 100 phone numbers each even though it is possible for everyone in your house to share just one line. Unless we add area codes or reduce the number of addresses per person then new people can't get addresses. That is an inconvenience, not doomsday.

Y2K was much worse It might have seemed like it was a fizzle that was totally over blown, but that was because lots of people worked very hard in 1999 to make it that way.

[RU Joe]

Ahh, I see.
So what they're talking about is the imminent limitation of the old system, right?

Kind of like when Bill Gates was saying how a few hundred kilobytes should be enough storage for anyone's computer way back when.
{'... more than anyone should ever need ...' I think is how he put it}

Thanks, Sea.
{edit: and Kong.}

[Seahawk]

So IPv6 was invented and looks like this 000.192.168.0.1.

No.
IPv4 uses four 8-bit numbers to store the address. Like:
192.168.1.1

"Originally, an IP address was divided into two parts, the network identifier represented in the most significant (highest order) octet of the address and the host identifier using the rest of the address. The latter was therefore also called the rest field. This enabled the creation of a maximum of 256 networks. Quickly this was found to be inadequate."
IPv4 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv4#Allocation)

Many different methods to handle this problem have been used.


IPv6 uses four 32-bit numbers to store the address, often reduced to four hexadecimal digits in eight groups. Like:
2001:0DB8:AC10:F301:0123:4567:89AB:CDEF

The most significant 64 bits (2001:0DB8:AC10:F301 in this case) are used as a network identifier, while the lower 64 bits are used for specific hosts within that network.
IPv6 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[samejamesbond]

So the internet will become extremely laggy in the next month?
Or am I reading this wrong?

[Demon-Mask]

It shouldn't be a problem, remedies are already in the works and whatnot. It should be the same as Y2K, a potential problem that amounts to nothing due to work being done behind the scenes.

[samejamesbond]

But what would happen if it was completely filled?
Extreme lag?

[Kong]

No, lag would not happen. If it was not fixed then new connections would be more expensive. Connections mainly meaning your ISP, and web servers. Eventually it would lead to no more new customers meaning no more new web servers or Internet connections.

It is the same thing as running out of phone numbers. The people with existing numbers don't have any change. There just isn't a supply for new people/businesses.

[samejamesbond]

Oh, that makes much more sense, thank you Kong.

[Tails]

Y2K was much worse It might have seemed like it was a fizzle that was totally over blown, but that was because lots of people worked very hard in 1999 to make it that way.
I've always wanted to know more of this. I was too young to understand then.

[Kong]

Software use to write dates in 2 digit format to save space. That means 1999 = 99 and 2000 = 00 which means the computer thinks 2000 is 99 years before 1999. That means anything that relies on dates is screwed. This error would mean much more to a bank that has to calculate interest than to you doing your homework on your home PC. It was unknown how much damage it could have caused if it was not fixed, which led to most of the hysteria. Example, what happens to a nuclear power plant or a missile silo if it all of a sudden it thinks it is 1900, probably nothing major but most people don't want to find out. Or what happens if everyone's bank account info was erased?

I worked at MS in 1999. I had to upgrade the bios on a few hundred computers to prepare for Y2K. Which just meant booting to a floppy and clicking ok a couple times.

On New Years Eve I had to work a 36 hour shift of just sitting in my office watching TV and being there in case the world fell apart, in which case I would have had no idea what to do, so all in all, a complete waste of time.

[RU Joe]

Well, I'm glad you were there, Kong, even though nothing major happened.

[Tails]

Sounds like a huge mess, I just remember of this green bug with Y2K on it flying while fighting Superman.

Did they not think of this or not think we'd be around in the year 2000? Or were they lazy?

[Kong]

It started out, they wanted to save every bit of space they could and did not think their programs would be around for long enough to matter. That was the correct and smart decision.

It then became habit and some people were saying hey, this stuff might be used for a long time, we should do it right. But most people, said whatever, I'm going to do it the way I always have, let the future worry about the future.

So they started off knowing what they were doing and making a wise decision. It ended with them not thinking about it much and just being stupid creatures of habit.

Richard Feynman, a scientist that helped make the first atomic bomb, said (I'm paraphrasing) we started working on the bomb for very good reasons, we had to build it before the Nazis did. But once Hitler was defeated we were too caught up in what we were doing to realize we no longer had a reason to be doing it.

Kind of the same thing, once people start to run they seem to continue until a wall smacks them in the face.

[david man45]

Sounds like the guys job in Office Space

[fungusman]

YouTube - Defcon 2010 - Who cares about IPv6 - Sam Bowne - Part.mov
/thread

Also, taking this course will help you get a high paying cushy job. Network admin is a fun job. Stressful (constantly helping n00bs) but fun.

CCNA - Career Certifications & Paths - Cisco Systems (http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le0/le9/learning_certification_type_home.html)