IPv6 launch day
Depending on who you believe, anything from 20billion to 50bn devices will be connected to the web in the next decade, creating the so called 'internet of things'.
But there's one problem; the system which currently underpins the internet can't support that many addresses. However, as of today, things have become a little easier because, if you haven't noticed, today is World IPv6 launch day.
IPv6 is taking over from IPv4, which was conceived in the early days of the world wide web. Because nobody really knew quite how the web would take off, it looked then like the 4bn or so (2exp32) addresses of IPv4 would be ample. IPv6 will support 2exp128 addresses, which equates to an awful lot.
