What is IPv6?

In Summary:

IPv6 is short for Internet Protocol, version 6. IPv6 is a new system, currently under development, to be used for assigning Internet Protocol addresses in the future. IPv6 will eventually replace the current IP addressing system, known as IPv4.

IPv6 will make use of 128-bit long IP addresses. In this scheme, an IP address will consist of eight sections, each containing a 16-bit value. The number of IP addresses that this creates is equal to the IPv4 address space squared, twice. IPv6 is being designed to allow for future growth of networking technologies and expansion of the Internet.