IP Addresses.

[jambutty]

A while ago I read somewhere that the world is running out of IP addresses and will have done within a couple of years or so. With only 4.3 billion available I can see why.

Yesterday whilst using Cute FTP to access my web space I noticed that the IP address had changed from the usual 4 figures group to a six figures group. This one - 192,168,1,3,12,232

Then earlier today it had gone back to a four figures group and by coincidence my Internet access was slower than normal.

Today Internet access is back to my normal and the IP address for accessing my web space is 192,168,1,3,13,187.

Could it be that the various ISP’s are trying to get their gear working with a six group IP address?

At least with a six group figure there will be around 281,474,976,700,000 different IP addresses. That should be more than enough.

[shillelagh]

whats an ip address?

[emamum]

its kinda like your internets phone number lol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_address

[entwisi]

you won't unbderstand it if I told you

IPv6 is what you are referring to Jambutty.

This explains quite a bit

Notation

IPv6 addresses are normally written as eight groups of four hexadecimal digits, where each group is separated by a colon (. For example, 2001:0db8:85a3:08d3:1319:8a2e:0370:7334 is a valid IPv6 address.

If one or more four-digit group(s) is 0000, the zeros may be omitted and replaced with two colons(:. For example, 2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000:0000:1428:57ab can be shortened to 2001:0db8::1428:57ab. Following this rule, any number of consecutive 0000 groups may be reduced to two colons, as long as there is only one double colon used in an address. Leading zeros in a group can also be omitted (as in ::1 for localhost). Thus, the addresses below are all valid and equivalent:
2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000:0000:1428:57ab
2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000::1428:57ab
2001:0db8:0:0:0:0:1428:57ab
2001:0db8:0:0::1428:57ab
2001:0db8::1428:57ab
2001:db8::1428:57ab

Having more than one double-colon abbreviation in an address is invalid, as it would make the notation ambiguous. i.e., Given 2001:0000:0000:FFD3:0000:0000:0000:57ab, 2001::FFD3::57ab could imply 2001:0000:0000:0000:0000:FFD3:0000:57ab, 2001:0000:FFD3:0000:0000:0000:0000:57ab, or any other similar permutation.

A sequence of 4 bytes at the end of an IPv6 address can also be written in decimal, using dots as separators. This notation is often used with compatibility addresses (see below). This addressing scheme is convenient when dealing with the mixed environment of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. The general notation is of the form x:x:x:x:x:x:d.d.d.d where the x's are the 6 higher order groups of hexadecimal digits whereas the d's correspond to the decimal digits of lower order octets of the address, as it is in the IPv4 format. For example, ::ffff:12.34.56.78 is the same address as ::ffff:0c22:384e and 0:0:0:0:0:ffff:0c22:384e. Usage of this notation is deprecated and unsupported by numerous applications.

Additional information can be found in RFC 4291 - IP Version 6 Addressing Architecture.

[edit]
Literal IPv6 addresses in URLs

In a URL the IPv6-Address is enclosed in brackets. Example:
http://[2001:0db8:85a3:08d3:1319:8a2e:0370:7348]/

This notation allows parsing a URL without confusing the IPv6 address and port number:
https://[2001:0db8:85a3:08d3:1319:8a2e:0370:7344]:443/

This is not only useful but mandated when using shortform:
https://[2001:db8::1428:57ab]:443/

Additional information can be found in "RFC 2732 - Format for Literal IPv6 Addresses in URL's" and "RFC 3986 - Uniform Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax."

[edit]
Network notation

IPv6 networks are written using CIDR notation.

An IPv6 network (or subnet) is a contiguous group of IPv6 addresses the size of which must be a power of two; the initial bits of addresses, which are identical for all hosts in the network, are called the network's prefix.

A network is denoted by the first address in the network and the size in bits of the prefix (in decimal), separated with a slash. For example, 2001:0db8:1234::/48 stands for the network with addresses 2001:0db8:1234:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000 through 2001:0db8:1234:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff

Because a single host can be seen as a network with a 128-bit prefix, you will sometimes see host addresses written followed with /128.

I'm surprised you are seeing what you see...

I reckon your client is not ipv6 complient and it 'tried its best' to convert the ipv6 to something in ipv4 format

[Neil]

Originally Posted by entwisi

you won't unbderstand it if I told you

Why not try instead of dismissing her rudely like you did

[emamum]

was my explaination not good enough?

[WillowTheWhisp]

Sounded good to me. It's the identifying number of your PC - BUT in some cases it isn't.

[dezt]

I try to think of ip addresses as seperate house numbers on 1 long street, but the telephone number explanation is a good simple way of remembering it.

[Less]

Originally Posted by Neil

Why not try instead of dismissing her rudely like you did

Now, Now, Neil, we all know what entwisi is like, he can't help being the way he is, if we could change him we would, but unfortunately rather than helping folk, he would rather try to be superior which often has the wrong effect.

If only he realised that most folk aren't as P.C. wise as himself and helped them, but ignoring his signature, there are some superior to him (they are kind enough not to hurt his feelings), he would perhaps become an even more popular figure on the site, if he did help, 'properly'.

I would like to learn a few things from him if it didn't involve his ego!

[banjoman]

Originally Posted by Less

I would like to learn a few things from him if it didn't involve his ego!

Like what ?

[Nickelson]

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

Sounded good to me. It's the identifying number of your PC - BUT in some cases it isn't.

That would be a mac code