In the earlier lesson, we talked about ipv4 addresses. Ito kasi ang traditional at common way when implementing ip addressing in the network. Pero since there is a ‘shortage’ coming for ipv4, organizations and modern enterprise started adapting ipv6(ip version 6). On this lesson, pag-uusapan natin ang tungkol dito.
What is an IPv6 address?
Althrough out sa aking mga naunang lessons, I only shared about IPv4 which is the traditional IP addressing na ginagamit natin. Pag sinabing IPv6, ito ang newest version ng IP addressing or IP protocol to eliminate the shortage of IPv4.
Sa dami ng mga devices at IPv4 connections, nakikita ng mga expert na dadating ang time na mauubos at kakapusin ito, kaya they come up with the new and sustainable version which is IPv6 or IP version 6.
Kung si IPv4 ay isang 32 bit address, ang isang IPv6 address ay binubuo ng 128 bit address. Here’s an example of IPv6 address format.

As you can see in our image above, meron tayong 64 characters of hexadecimal. Kung ico-convert natin sila into binary, they are a total of 128 bits.
Kung ang ipv4 ay binubuo ng 4 octets na decimal numbers, ang ipv6 naman ay binbuo ng 8 quartets of hexadecimal numbers. Each quartet composed of 16 bits. Then each character(hexadecimal) is equal to 4 bits. So if we’re gonna look at the binary equivalent nito, we will have 128 bits of 0s and 1s.
For example, ang first quartet natin(2001) will look like this: 0010000000000001. Bakit? They are hexadecimal. So 2 = 0010, 0 = 0000, 0 = 0000 and 1 = 0001. Then it is the same concept for all the remaining 7 quartets.
Kung nakalimutan mo naman or hindi ka familiar on how to convert hexadecimal to binary, here’s the table to remind you idol.

Ang ipv6 ay binubuo din ng network at host portion. Ang pinaka-tawag talaga natin ditto ay network prefix(network address) at interface id(host address). For example, sa ating example sa taas kanina, we can see na meron tayong /64 mask for that ipv6 address.
Ang ibig sabihin lang nito, the first 64 bits is the network prefix at ang sumunod na 64 bits ay para sa interface id. See photo below.

To make a comparison with ipv4 and ipv6, here’s a a table that shows some of the differences.

Features of IPv6 address
Ito naman ang ilan sa mga importanteng features ng ating IPv6.
1. Large address space
Gaya ng ng nabanggit ko sa taas, si IPv6 ay gumagamit ng 128 bit address unlike IPv4 which is a 32 bit address only. Ibig sabihin, super dami at super laki ng network space or IP space na kayang i-accomodate ni IPv6. Sabi nga nila, hindi na tayo magkakaroon ng shortage sa IP if IPv6 will be implemented.
2. Enhanced security
Ang IPSec or (Internet Protocol Security) ay built in na sa IPv6 as part of the protocol . Ibig sabihin, two devices can dynamically create a secure tunnel without user intervention.
3. No need for NAT
Since super laki at super dami nang pwedeng IP na magamit thru IPv6, hindi na required or kelangan pang mag-NAT if ever implemented.
Note: Ang NAT ang isa sa mga dahilan kung bakit tayo nakakatipid ng IPv4 at hanggang ngayon is hindi pa rin tayo kinakapos.
4. Stateless address autoconfiguration
Ang mga IPv6 devices ay may kakayanan na automatically mag-configure ng sarili nilang IPv6 addresses.
That’s basically the fundamentals of IPv6. In the CCNA Fundamentals Ebook, we dig deeper into it. We talked about the process of ‘shortening the IPv6 address’. We also have some samples on how to use and apply them on our network devices like router.
If you’re interested with CCNA Fundamentals, you can go ahead and check the details here.
The ebook contains other CCNA topics na wala dito sa blog like NAT, ACL, Wireless, HSRP and more. It was updated to cover all the new topics for CCNA 200-301(the new CCNA exam).
Again, go ahead and check the details here.
By now, you now understand the fundamentals of IPv6 address. Let’s move on to the next lesson.
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