<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML ><HEAD ><TITLE >What is IPv6?</TITLE ><META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.7"><LINK REL="HOME" TITLE="Linux IPv6 HOWTO (en)" HREF="index.html"><LINK REL="UP" TITLE="Basics" HREF="chapter-basics.html"><LINK REL="PREVIOUS" TITLE="Basics" HREF="chapter-basics.html"><LINK REL="NEXT" TITLE="History of IPv6 in Linux" HREF="basic-history-ipv6-linux.html"></HEAD ><BODY CLASS="SECT1" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#840084" ALINK="#0000FF" ><DIV CLASS="NAVHEADER" ><TABLE SUMMARY="Header navigation table" WIDTH="100%" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" ><TR ><TH COLSPAN="3" ALIGN="center" >Linux IPv6 HOWTO (en)</TH ></TR ><TR ><TD WIDTH="10%" ALIGN="left" VALIGN="bottom" ><A HREF="chapter-basics.html" ACCESSKEY="P" >Prev</A ></TD ><TD WIDTH="80%" ALIGN="center" VALIGN="bottom" >Chapter 2. Basics</TD ><TD WIDTH="10%" ALIGN="right" VALIGN="bottom" ><A HREF="basic-history-ipv6-linux.html" ACCESSKEY="N" >Next</A ></TD ></TR ></TABLE ><HR ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="100%"></DIV ><DIV CLASS="SECT1" ><H1 CLASS="SECT1" ><A NAME="AEN384" ></A >2.1. What is IPv6?</H1 ><P >IPv6 is a new layer 3 protocol (see <A HREF="http://www.linuxports.com/howto/intro_to_networking/c4412.htm#PAGE103HTML" TARGET="_top" >linuxports/howto/intro_to_networking/ISO - OSI Model</A >) which will supersede IPv4 (also known as IP). IPv4 was designed long time ago (<A HREF="http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc760.html" TARGET="_top" >RFC 760 / Internet Protocol</A > from January 1980) and since its inception, there have been many requests for more addresses and enhanced capabilities. Latest RFC is <A HREF="http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2460.html" TARGET="_top" >RFC 2460 / Internet Protocol Version 6 Specification</A >. Major changes in IPv6 are the redesign of the header, including the increase of address size from 32 bits to 128 bits. Because layer 3 is responsible for end-to-end packet transport using packet routing based on addresses, it must include the new IPv6 addresses (source and destination), like IPv4.</P ><P >For more information about the IPv6 history take a look at older IPv6 related RFCs listed e.g. at <A HREF="http://www.switch.ch/lan/ipv6/references.html" TARGET="_top" >SWITCH IPv6 Pilot / References</A >.</P ></DIV ><DIV CLASS="NAVFOOTER" ><HR ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="100%"><TABLE SUMMARY="Footer navigation table" WIDTH="100%" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" ><TR ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" ><A HREF="chapter-basics.html" ACCESSKEY="P" >Prev</A ></TD ><TD WIDTH="34%" ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" ><A HREF="index.html" ACCESSKEY="H" >Home</A ></TD ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" ><A HREF="basic-history-ipv6-linux.html" ACCESSKEY="N" >Next</A ></TD ></TR ><TR ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top" >Basics</TD ><TD WIDTH="34%" ALIGN="center" VALIGN="top" ><A HREF="chapter-basics.html" ACCESSKEY="U" >Up</A ></TD ><TD WIDTH="33%" ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top" >History of IPv6 in Linux</TD ></TR ></TABLE ></DIV ></BODY ></HTML >
