21 IPv6 Addressing
This chapter covers
- Why IPv6 is needed
- How to convert between binary, decimal, and hexadecimal number systems
- The structure of IPv6 addresses
- How to configure IPv6 addresses on Cisco routers
- The various IPv6 address types
IPv4, the version of the Internet Protocol that we have focused on up to this point in the book, was developed at a time when no one knew the Internet would be as ubiquitous as it is today; the current IPv4 standard was published in 1981. As a result, IPv4 has limitations, the most significant one being insufficient address space; there aren’t enough IPv4 addresses available for all of the devices in the world that require network connectivity.
In this chapter, we will cover the next version of the Internet Protocol: IPv6. IPv6 provides several benefits over IPv4, the most significant one being a much larger address space. Although IPv4 is still the dominant version in use today, IPv6 adoption is growing, and the modern network engineer must be familiar with both. Specifically, we will cover CCNA exam topics 1.8: Configure and verify IPv6 addressing and prefix, and 1.9: Describe IPv6 address types.