Buckle your seat belts because tomorrow is the World IPv6 Day. IPv6, of course is the update to the longstanding existing internet protocol, IPv4. Internet Protocol 4 or IPv4, was the fourth revision to the standard internet protocol. IPv4 and the upcoming IPv6 are what allow devices to has a virtual presence or address on the internet; it allows web site, routers and computers to know the destination and origin of data. In short, IPv4 and IPv6 are the backbone of the internet – without it you could not connect to any of your favorite sites like Facebook or Google. The current problem with IPv4 is that is limited in availability. Ipv4 addresses were made up of four octets (e.g. 255.255.255.255) comprised of the numbers 0 -9. 

The IPv4 octets created a 32-bit address and allowed for over 4 billion unique IP addresses but with more and more devices connecting to the internet that pool of addresses is quickly depleting. There is only a finite amount of  unique combinations that can be created from a limited set of numbers, so to fix this problem and expand the number of addresses IPv6, which is 64-bit, was introduced which will allow up to 3.4 x 10^38 unique addresses.   The internet has been host to many pivotal moments in history, but rarely has it been the center of it. Tomorrow is a different story though; the test of IPv6 marks the first step towards transforming the entire internet. Before long everyone will be using IPv6 and when they ask where you where when the first major IPv6 test occurred you’ll have an answer. So join the tomorrow test, because before long there will be a new standard.

Tomorrow’s event, which was organized by the Internet Society,  is being called a “test flight” and will last for the entire 24-hours of June 8th. The event is being held to reminded companies and individuals to take the necessary steps to be ready for the eventual IPv6 transition that will take place in the near future.  Several major entities have signed up to participate in the test including Google (and Youtube), Facebook, Yahoo, Akamai, and Bing. Actually, Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, will be starting their IPv6 test a bit early; Bing’s IPv6 readyness testing will start today June 7 at 5:00 p.m. PT and run until June 8th at 5:00 p.m. PT. For a complete list of all of the sites that will be participating in tomorrow’s event check out the Internet Society’s page here.