3 ms·
> 48-bit static IP addresses. 70 trillion should be enough. 128 bits was overkill The least significant 64 bits in IPv6 are used for link-layer addressing, whi
by darkr 5y ago
> 48-bit static IP addresses. 70 trillion should be enough. 128 bits was overkill
The least significant 64 bits in IPv6 are used for link-layer addressing, which is how IPv6 supplants older L2 protocols (ARP etc) with NDP etc, thereby fixing (or at least improving) some significant issues with larger IPv4 subnet scalability/reliability
- chalst 5y agoRight. The reference IPv6 packet header is only twice as long as that for IPv4 (320 bits vs 160). What is crucial, combined with the fact darkr points out that since they include the link layer the IPv6 protocol deals with more of the network architecture, is that IPv6 headers are much simpler, with only 8 fields, the 6 non-address fields all in the first 64 bits, while IPv4 has 14 fields, with the 12 non-address fields taking 96 bits, and they are better designed with attention to what routers find most important. This simplicity offers routing subsystems increased flexibility in the way they can be put together and handle their workloads.