Differences IPv4 Vs IPv6

Differences IPv4 Vs IPv6

I had compiled differences between IPv6 and IPv4 long back. Though it is for my personal reference I am uploading it on my blog. Hope someone might find this useful.

Thanks to those known and known sources who helped me compile this.

IPv4
IPv6
IPv4 addresses are 32 bits (4 bytes) in length. IPv6 addresses are 128 bits (16 bytes) in length.
IPv4 addresses are numeric and typically written in decimal digits. IPv6 addresses are alphanumeric in nature and typically written in hexadecimal.
IPv4 addresses are divided into four 8-bits blocks. IPv6 addresses are divided into eight 16-bits blocks.
IPv4 address 8-bit blocks are separated by a dot (.) symbol. IPv4 address 8-bit blocks are separated by a colon (:) symbol
IPv4 has five different IP address classes namely, Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, and Class E. IPv6 does not have any IP address classes.
IPv4 address types include Unicast, Multicast, and Broadcast. IPv6 address types include Unicast, Multicast, and Anycast
IPv4 address space spans up to 4 billion unique IP addresses. IPv6 address space spans up to 340 undecillion unique IP addresses.
IPv4 addressing supports Virtual Length Subnet Masking (VLSM) IPv6 does not support VLSM
In DNS, IPv4 uses Address (A) resource records to map hostnames to IPv4 addresses. In DNS, IPv6 uses Address (AAAA) resource records to map hostnames to IPv6 addresses.
In DNS, IPv4 uses Pointer (PTR) resource records in the IN-ADDR.ARPA DNS domain to map IPv4 addresses to hostnames. In DNS, IPv6 uses Pointer (PTR) resource records in the IP6.ARPA DNS domain to map IPv6 addresses to hostnames.
In IPv4, IPSec is optional and should be supported externally.In IPv6, IPSec support is not optional and it is mandatory.
IPv4 Header does not identify packet flow for QoS handling by routers IPv6 Header contains the Flow Label field, which Identifies packet flow for QoS handling by the router. Thus IPv6 provides efficient QoS.
In IPv4, both routers and the sending host fragment packets. With IPv6, routers do not support packet fragmentation. Only sending host fragments packets in IPv6.
IPv4 header includes a checksum. IPv6 header does not include a checksum.
The header includes options. Optional data is supported as extension headers.
In IPv4, ARP uses broadcast ARP requests to resolve IP to MAC/Hardware address. In IPv6, Multicast Neighbor Solicitation messages resolve IP addresses to MAC addresses.
In IPv4, Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) manages membership in local subnet groups. In IPv6, Multicast Listener Discovery (MLD) messages manage membership in local subnet groups.
IPv4 uses Broadcast addresses are used to send traffic to all nodes on a subnet. IPv6 uses a link-local scope all-nodes multicast address.
IPv4 address can be configured either manually or through DHCP. IPv6 does not require manual configuration or DHCP.
In IPv4, packet size must be 576-byte packet size (possibly fragmented).In IPv6, packet size must support a 1280-byte packet size (without fragmentation).

Network Sorcery is a great place to find RFC(s). Refer to http://www.networksorcery.com/enp/protocol/ipv6.htm and http://www.networksorcery.com/enp/protocol/ip.htm links for related RFC(s) of IPv6 and IPv4 respectively.

Also, there is a good reference for Understanding IPv6 @ http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc786127.aspx

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Mandar is a seasoned software professional for more than a decade. He is Cloud, AI, IoT, Blockchain and Fintech enthusiast. He writes to benefit others from his experiences. His overall goal is to help people learn about the Cloud, AI, IoT, Blockchain and Fintech and the effects they will have economically and socially in the future.

52 comments:

  1. Nice comparision i m wasim from pakistan

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  2. thank u...........such a nice comparision..

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  3. Tx. more info is highly appreciated. hw ever very helpful.

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  4. this is very good ....but i need the diff between RMI AND RFC

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  5. thnx.very useful for me thnx once again.pls give some vlan concept question from lenin chennai

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  6. hey its a nice reference. Thanks

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  7. really helped me for my quiz thanks a lot

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  8. thanx sir...........divesh agrahari

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  9. ya its really good and very helpful thank you so much ...:)

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  10. it was of great help.. thank yu..

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  11. i suggest to keep in touch with an ipv4 to ipv6 discussion forum since it often gets full of expertise and good answers

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  12. well can u tell me which is best ipv6 or ipv4

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  13. tank you sir I ajith from kerala

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  14. there's one mistake in first point....it shud b 6 bytes..

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  15. Thanks:) Really useful one.. Good job..

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  16. This is really nice..
    Thankz alot :)

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  17. I like your Blog.
    satyam from india

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  18. image only:
    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IN43WKZQbETdkGLvdDSTCrMMk4F3Xb4LJqUcCoMMsAU/edit

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  19. Thanx for u r blogs... jus referred u r blogs instead of books during exams...

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  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  21. Thanks for helpin fo my cn 2 xam..

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  22. many thanks.. just pop to me in google when i search for ipv4 vs ipv6 which is what i need to know..
    useful table

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  23. i need difference between ip4 &ip5

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  24. i need difference between ipv4 nd ipv6

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  25. Thank you, you are a life-saver. Required this for my assignment.

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  26. I have been receiving abusive comments.
    Considering nature of the content it is quite possible that there are few new improvements or additions over period of time (this article is from year 2009), please consider adding to the contents even it means pointing out few mistakes or new additions. Posting abusive comments neither does justice to the contents of this post nor to me as an author.

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  27. thnx not getting this in any other tutorials.
    thnx fr giving detail & point to point difference..

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  28. beautiful comparison thanks a lot

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  29. beautiful comparison between ipv4 and ipv6 great job

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  30. Thanks a lot. This really helped me with my TCP/IP class unit on IPv6.

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