What is an IP address?
An IP address is a number that identifies a device on the internet. It works like a house address. Without it, data would not know where to go. Your website lives on a server, and that server has an IP address.
The old kind: IPv4
IPv4 is the older system. An address looks like this:
192.0.2.10It has four numbers. IPv4 can make about 4.3 billion addresses. That sounded huge long ago. Today phones, TVs, cars and watches all need addresses, so the supply is almost used up.
The new kind: IPv6
IPv6 was made to fix the shortage. An address looks like this:
2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334It has eight groups of letters and numbers, split by colons. The letters a to f are used with the digits 0 to 9. The number of possible addresses is so large that we will not run out.
How to read a short form
- Leading zeros in a group can be dropped.
0db8becomesdb8. - One run of all-zero groups can be replaced by
::. You may use this only once in an address.
So the long address above can be written 2001:db8:85a3::8a2e:370:7334.
Why IPv6 is useful
- Plenty of addresses for every device.
- Simpler routing, so data can travel well.
- Modern networks and many big sites already support it.
What it means for your website
- Most visitors still reach sites by IPv4, but more use IPv6 each year.
- In DNS (the internet phone book), an IPv4 address goes in an A record. An IPv6 address goes in an AAAA record.
- To serve IPv6, your server needs an IPv6 address and your domain needs an AAAA record.
- Your site works over both when you have both records.
Ask Hostvento support whether your plan includes an IPv6 address. Open a ticket at https://secure.hostvento.com/submitticket.php.
Check your own IPv6
- Search the web for an "IPv6 test" site.
- Open it and read the result.
Quick recap
- An IP address is a device's internet address.
- IPv4 is running out. IPv6 has far more addresses.
- IPv4 uses A records. IPv6 uses AAAA records.
- Add AAAA only if your server supports IPv6.