Okay Geek Farm
In just weeks, the Internet will be full
Brandon Davenport
Back in 1977, a man by the name of Vint Cerf had an idea — he wanted to connect computers together all over the world, and quite simply he did just that by inventing a technology called “IPv4” which is an internet protocol designed to give addresses to computers, thus allowing them onto the internet. There was only enough room for 4.3 billion addresses, but the “experiment” wasn’t expected to last long — he was very wrong, and he hates himself for it.
Vint CerfToday, billions of devices (not just computers anymore) use the internet, and every single device requires a unique address, but the supply of said addresses is running low, and, according to Vint Cerf, those addresses will run dry in a few weeks. We can only imagine how awful Vint feels for letting this happen — but he shouldn’t feel too bad.
“I thought it was an experiment and I thought that 4.3 billion [addresses] would be enough to do an experiment.” — Vint Cerf
Vint Cerf helped create something that has become the most powerful, and most available tool in the world. It has connected people like no other form of communication in history and has helped democratise content in a way traditional media can’t. He is a hero in our books.
Unfortunately, one small misjudgement had set us on a path to destruction since day one, and there’s not much we can do with exsisting technology to prevent the internet armageddon… or is there?
IPv6 to the rescue!
iPv6 is a new technology being developed from the core fundimentals of IPv4, except instead of allowing just 4.3 billion addresses to be handed out, IPv6 will allow trillions of new addresses to be given out, and open the flood gates for the next generation of the internet-hungry public — you can learn more about IPv6 here.
The short-term future for the internet is dull and if we plan to support it properly we need to begin rolling out IPv6 as soon as we can, but that is a lot of work and could take years. Not much is known about what’s going to happen once the internet fills up, but all we know is it’s a series of tubes!!… the internet is not a big truck you just dump something on!
Ehternet wires image by vonKinder- Flickr
