Some of the world's major internet companies are taking part in a 24-hour test of the next-generation of internet protocol, IPv6, which will take place on the 8th of June.
Facebook, Google, Yahoo and backbone hosting provider Akamai will be taking part in the Internet Society organised World IPv6 Day which aims to raise awareness of the migration towards the new protocol as well as testing vital infrastructure.
The current IPv4 has a 32-bit address scheme which may have seemed like a lot in 1977 when the protocol was conceived but is projected to run out of addresses for internet-connected computers later this year. Yet only 0.2 per cent of internet users are connected via the IPv6 protocol, Google said in a blog post.
Google said that it anticipates that most users wont notice as the major web companies enable IPv6 on their web sites but that some people may experience connectivity problems due to badly configured or buggy home networking devices.
The rolling upgrade to IPv6 has gone on for several years now but most users are effectively still given a real IPv4 internet address when they connect. Google said that a full scale IPv6 test has never been undertaken of the scale of the planned event in June.
The Internet Society has more details on World IPv6 day, including information for users and website operators on what they can do to take part.
Advertisement
Related Stories
- Developer fined £50,000 over fake Angry Birds app May 25th 2012 at 12:28PM
- Yahoo unveils innovative search software for Apple May 24th 2012 at 2:27PM
- Facebook to float on Stock Exchange today May 18th 2012 at 11:27AM
- Google introduces Knowledge Graph for more intelligent search May 17th 2012 at 10:55AM
- Google's multi-Nexus Android strategy May 16th 2012 at 12:56AM
- Mozilla, Google blast Windows RT browser restrictions May 11th 2012 at 3:47AM
- Java judge will not rule on Android "fair use" May 11th 2012 at 1:52AM
- Google lets anyone be a TV station May 7th 2012 at 10:55PM
- Jury fails to fully decide in Oracle vs Google May 7th 2012 at 10:28PM
- Jury struggles for verdict in Oracle vs Google May 6th 2012 at 11:56PM
