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How does routing work with IPv6? How is it divided?

How does routing work with IPv6? How is it divided? Does it have any classes as IPv4, and is there any private and public IP address with IPv6?

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An IPv6 address consists of 128 bits. Sixty-four bits are used for the interface identifier, this is what we call host ID in the IPv4 world. The first 64 bits are used for the network part of the address. In IPv6 there are no address classes as in IPv4. With the current allocation policy an ISP/Provider generally receives a /32 prefix from the registry. It will further divide this prefix and allocate /48s to its customers (organizations, end users). This leaves 16 network bits for the customer for his own subnetting. As we know, with 16 bits we can configure some 65'000 (216) networks (subnets).

I hope this answers your question.

Regards,
Silvia

This was first published in January 2007

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