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Feature
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IPv6
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IPv4
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Easier management of networks
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IPv6 networks provide autoconfiguration capabilities. They are simpler, flatter
and more manageable, especially for large installations.
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Networks must be configured manually or with DHCP. IPv4 has had many overlays
to handle Internet growth, which demand increasing maintenance efforts.
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End-to-end connective integrity
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Direct addressing is possible due to vast address space - the need for network
address translation devices is effectively eliminated.
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Widespread use of NAT devices means that a single NAT address can mask
thousands of non-routable addresses, making end-to-end integrity unachievable.
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Unconstrained address abundance
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3.4 x 1038 = 340 trillion trillion trillion addresses - about 670 quadrillion
addresses per square millimetre of the Earth's surface.
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4.29 x 109 = 4.2 billion addresses - far less than even a single IP address per
person on the planet.
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Platform for innovation and collaboration
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Given the numbers of addresses, scalability and flexibility of IPv6, its
potential for triggering innovation and assisting collaboration is unbounded.
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IPv4 was designed as a transport and communications medium, and increasingly
any work on IPv4 is to find ways around the constraints.
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Integrated interoperability and mobility
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IPv6 provides interoperability and mobility capabilities which are already widely
embedded in network devices.
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Relatively constrained network topologies restrict mobility and interoperability
capabilities in the IPv4 Internet.
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Improved security features
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IPSEC is built into the IPv6 protocol, usable with a suitable key infrastructure.
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Security is dependent on applications - IPv4 was not designed with security in mind.
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