The Internet Protocol(IPv4) addressing scheme has,for over 10 years, been descri

Question

The Internet Protocol(IPv4) addressing scheme has,for over 10 years, been described as running out of addresses

In April 2011, the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre allocated the world's last block of IPv4 addresses. However, since then, the wider Internet has not ground to a halt, and tens of millions of new hosts have been added.

Describe two distinct mechanisms that are currently being employed to extend the lifespan of IPv4

Will it be possible for these mechanisms to extend the lifespan of IPv4 almost indefinitely? Explain your answer

and With reference to two examples, explain the relationship between the Internet Protocol and the Internet Control Message Protocol(ICMP)

Explanation / Answer

Answer)

We all know that Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) has been there for many years and is a 32 bit address consisting of 4294967296 (2^32) addresses. Thus this is a finite address space which has been depleted almost currently due to the allocation to the large number of devices and networks. As said that, In April 2011, the Asia Pacific Network Information Center allocated the world's last block of IPv4 addresses. but that was not the stop of it, since then, the wider Internet has not ground to a halt, and tens of millions of new hosts have been added. The new hosts or the devices which are added to the internet demand the limited address space address from IPv4 which were not anticipated when the IPv4 was designed. There are many reasons why IPv4 is depleting such as:

a) LArge number of mobile devices addition being connected to the internet.

b) Always on connections which are always active such as broadband connections

c) New internet users in the market

d) Inefficient use of IP addresses where more IP addresses were allocated for use than actually required by the user.

There are various mitigation mechanisms that are currently being employed to extend the lifespan of IPv4 such as:

a) Using network address translation (NAT) - Usage of the private network which allows the usage of one public IP and the usage of many private IPs in the network of the organization, company or body.

b) Private network addressing for intranet works where the private network is used for the works inside a company or group.

c) Network renumbering and subnetting to make efficient use of the classful network addressing of IPv4

The above mechanisms will not be able to extend the lifespan of IPv4 almost indefinitely. This is because they are just mitigation measures and thus they cannot be thought of as permanent solutions and have to be solved by a newer protocol with larger address space which will be a permanent solution such as IPv6.

IP protocol is a communications protocol which is responsible for the inter networking, delivery of the packets from the source to the destination from users identified with and address known as the IP address. Each host in the IP protocol is identified by the IP address which is the unique identifier to the computer or device. Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is a protocol in the Internet suite used for diagnostic or control purposes used by the routers, network devices and others to indicate information and are generated in response to the errors for example when a packet cannot be transferred or a host is down.

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