10 things you should know about IPv6 addressing

“Over the last several years, IPv6 has been inching toward
becoming a mainstream technology. Yet many IT pros still don’t know
where to begin when it comes to IPv6 adoption because IPv6 is so
different from IPv4. In this article, I’ll share 10 pointers that
will help you understand how IPv6 addressing works.

“1: IPv6 addresses are 128-bit hexadecimal numbers

“The IPv4 addresses we are all used to seeing are made up of
four numerical octets that combine to form a 32-bit address. IPv6
addresses look nothing like IPv4 addresses. IPv6 addresses are 128
bits in length and are made up of hexadecimal characters.

“In IPv4, each octet consists of a decimal number ranging from 0
to 255. These numbers are typically separated by periods. In IPv6,
addresses are expressed as a series of eight 4-character
hexadecimal numbers, which represent 16 bits each (for a total of
128 bits). As we’ll see in a minute, IPv6 addresses can sometimes
be abbreviated in a way that allows them to be expressed with fewer
characters.

“2: Link local unicast addresses are easy to identify”

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