IPv6

If you are reading this post, you are using the internet and have been using IPv4 (internet protocol version 4) the international standard for addressing computers and other devices connected to the web.  As of today, there is a new standard that allows for the creation of trillions of new addresses.

Several companies switched to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) at 00:01 GMT today.

The new system was necessary to prevent the internet from running out of available addresses for new devices.

Experts said users should not notice any difference in their web use, and new devices should be using the new system as standard.

Companies such as Google, Facebook and major internet service providers have enabled the new system in order to encourage the widespread adoption of the standard.

The actions come as part of World IPv6 Launch Day, a special event organized by the Internet Society.

IPv6 will eventually replace IPv4, which was conceived during the early days of the internet. IPv4 only allows just over four billion unique IP addresses - the sequences of numbers used to identify a device.

Each internet-enabled device - such as a computer, printer, or smartphone - needs its own IP address in order to connect to the internet.However, due to the shortage of IP addresses, many devices - such as multiple computers in the one home - have to share addresses, which can often slow down connection speeds.

Networking giant Cisco predicts that by 2016, 18.9 billion internet-enabled devices will be online. Switching to IPv6 means trillions of possible addresses can now be made.

"Most users shouldn't notice anything," said Leo Vegoda from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which manages the Internet address system.

• The old IPv4 system uses 32-bit addresses like this: 216.27.61.137
• While an IP address under the new system will look more like this:21DA:00D3:0000:2F3B:02AA:00FF:FE28:9C5A

A good explanation of how the new 128 bit IPv6 works can be found Here.