Father of the Internet: Global IP addresses are exhausted within a few weeks

"At first, I thought this was just an experiment, and it was enough to do experiments with 4.3 billion IP addresses." He said, "Who knows how much space is needed?"

-"Father of the Internet" Wenton Surf

Winton Surf, known as the "Father of the Internet", pointed out recently that global IP addresses are about to be exhausted within "a few weeks."

This sentence is by no means sensational. Since the Internet must allocate exclusive IP addresses to any terminals connected to the network, with the diversification of network terminals, Internet IP address allocation pressure is increasing. The final result of this pressure is that all Internet IP addresses are used up.

4.3 billion addresses are running out

According to Australian media reports, Winton Surf, who helped set up the Internet and connected the global computer, pointed out that the 4.3 billion IP addresses he created were almost used up, which was his "mistake."

He said: "At first I thought it was just an experiment, and it was enough to do experiments with 4.3 billion IP addresses." He said, "Who knows how much space is needed?"

Joseph is currently the vice president and chief Internet consultant of Google Inc. in the United States. He created the Internet communication protocol "IPv4" in 1977 to allow computers around the world to connect to each other. It is reported that this was part of the experiment he conducted while serving in the US Department of Defense.

Joseph said he never expected this to become an "endless" experiment.

An IP address is a series of numbers assigned to each computer, website, or other networked device. Each IP address is unique. As mobile terminals such as notebooks, tablets, and smart phones enter the Internet, digital congestion is triggered. American Google engineer Lorenzo Coliti described on the 22nd: "Sometimes, we are like driving a car against the wall."

Some experts predict that as operators and manufacturers provide users with more smart terminals, especially smart phones, the future demand for IP addresses will be ten times the current scale. (Xiao Shi)

Way out

Convert IPv4 to IPv6

Can have a lot of space

In fact, "the statement that the IP address will be used up" has appeared more than once. Ernesto Machado, the director of public relations for domain name registries in Latin America and the Caribbean, issued a warning in December last year: "The IP address of the Internet Center will be allocated in January 2011." "There were 4 batches allocated this week, and currently there are only 5 batches left unallocated. According to relevant resolutions, these 5 batches of IP addresses will be distributed to the world's 5 largest domain name registries.

"Each sand can have an IP address"

In order to solve this crisis, relevant technical experts are planning to use the updated version of the Internet communication protocol IPv6 to create trillions of IP addresses to solve the IPv4 address shortage problem.

It is understood that the currently used IPv4 protocol, that is, 4.3 billion addresses, has less than one address per person in the world, and the IPv6 protocol can provide a massive address space of 2 to the 128th power, which is exactly "36 zeros after 34" .

The concept of this number is that if there are 180 billion Internet users in the world, and each person has 180 billion Internet terminals, all of these terminals access the Internet at the same time, and there is still a surplus of IP addresses. Some people even claim that every grain of sand on the earth after IPv6 can have an IP address. (Xiao Shi)

future

Google, Facebook took the lead in remodeling in June this year

According to Xinhua News Agency, the International Internet Name and Number Assignment Company (ICANN), headquartered in the United States, is responsible for global Internet IP address allocation. Its function is similar to the vehicle management office of the highway traffic supervision department.

At this stage, this "network vehicle management office" allocates all IP addresses to the five major regions of the world. The IP addresses in some regions are less than the number of terminals. In the end, it can only be solved by the way that multiple terminals share one IP address, but this method not only Clamping the speed of the Internet also causes hidden security risks.

Baker Strom, president of the "Network Management Office", said that after the use of IP addresses, if the number of Internet end users continues to increase, there may be a situation where the network speed of users sharing IP addresses slows down, "but the Internet will not be paralyzed."

The protocol transformation from IPv4 to IPv6 is a huge project. Except that all end users must replace the router or modem that connects the terminal to the Internet, all websites and Internet operators must be completely transformed to provide an "entry" for IPv6 terminal access to the website .

The renovation project does not depend on the unilateral actions of the Internet name and number allocation company.

The 24 hours from 01:00 on June 8, 2011 GMT will be the first trial day of the IPv6 protocol system. At that time, websites such as the online search engine Google Inc. and the social networking site "Facebook" will be the first to start the IPv6 protocol system to provide testing and analysis platforms for users and engineers.