Glossary

IPv6

IPv6 is the 128-bit internet addressing scheme that replaces scarce IPv4, offering a virtually unlimited supply of addresses.

IPv6 is the current generation of the Internet Protocol, designed to replace the exhausted ipv4. An IPv6 address is 128 bits, written as eight groups of hexadecimal digits, such as 2606:2800:220:1:248:1893:25c8:1946, often shortened with ::.

Why it exists

IPv6 provides about 340 undecillion addresses — effectively inexhaustible. This removes the need for NAT in many deployments and lets every device have a globally unique address.

Adoption

Major networks, mobile carriers, and cloud providers now serve significant traffic over IPv6, and browsers prefer it when available. Many networks run dual-stack, offering both IPv4 and IPv6.

Why it matters for hosting

To be reachable over IPv6, a site must publish an aaaa-record and have the server actually listening on the address. A dangling AAAA record causes slow, failing connections for IPv6 clients, so verify reachability before enabling it.

See also

IPv4 IPv4 is the original 32-bit internet addressing scheme, written as four dotted numbers, now exhausted and supplemented by IPv6. IP Address An IP address is the unique numeric label assigned to each device on a network, used to route data to the right destination across the internet. AAAA Record An AAAA record maps a domain name to an IPv6 address, the IPv6 equivalent of an A record used for modern internet addressing. DNS (Domain Name System) DNS is the internet phone book that translates human-readable domain names like example.com into the IP addresses computers use to connect.

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