IPv6 Addressing Types

IPv6 is joining IPv4 very soon because IPv4 is going to deplete somewhere within 2011. It's really important to start educating yourself about IPv6 as soon as possible so you can ride the wave just in the right time.

We all know the normal Unicast, Multicast and Broadcast addressing types of IPv4. The unicast and the multicast are still used by IPv6 while the latter is no longer used. IPv6 also has three address types as defined below:

Unicast Addresses: This is the one you already know, unicast addresses are assigned to hosts and router interfaces. Packets addressed to a unicast address are delivered to a single host or router interface defined with that address.

Multicast Addresses: These are addresses that represent various groups of IP devices: a message sent to a multicast address goes to all devices in the group. This is commonly used for applications like video conferencing.

Anycast Addresses: Anycast address identifies multiple interfaces. Packets destined to anycast address are delivered to the nearest interface identified by the address. The nearest is determined based on the network routing protocols and routing tables.Anycast addressing is used when a message must be sent to any member of a group, but does not need to be sent to them all. A common application for anycast addressing technique is load sharing.

The normal broadcast addressing of IPv4 is not existing in IPv6. Broadcast traffic of IPv4 is handled using multicast address type of IPv6.



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