Domain Name System (DNS) is key to all internet related and other web browsing activities as it is hugely relied on to rapidly provide the necessary information to connect internet users to the appropriate remote hosts. Domain Name System enables the tracing and translation of internet domain names into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. The main function of the DNS is to map the names which internet browsers use to locate websites to the IP addresses which computers use to locate websites. Domain Name System mapping generally is spread throughout the internet and this occurs in a hierarchical form. Enterprises, access providers, universities, governments, and organizations in one way or the other have their designed ranges of IP addresses which again are assigned domain names. In addition, they run DNS servers which manage name and address mapping. There are two types of IP addresses which are IPv4 and IPv6.
How DNS Works
In essence, DNS servers tend to provide answers for questions occurring both from the inside and outside of their own domains. In the event that a server receives an outside domain request regarding a name or an address from the inside of the domain, the server provides an authoritative answer. On the other hand, if a server receives a request from inside its own domain for information regarding an outside address or domain, then the request will be passed to another server. The next receiving server in most cases is that which is managed by its own internet service provider. Chances are that the server might not know the answer or even the authoritative source (Raicu & Zeadally, 2003). In this manner, the server will reach out to DNS servers requesting top-level domain, for example, .edu, or .com. The request is then passed down the authoritative server which provides a specific domain such as impact.edu or legit.com after which the answer relays back the same path.
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Internet protocols (IPs) give specific technical formats in the form of packets and addressing schemes which are in turn used in communication between computers. In most cases, networks combine IPs with other high-level protocols commonly referred to as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). These act to establish virtual connections between a source and its destination. An IP address in itself is comparable to a postal system in the sense that it enables one to address a package then drop it in the system. However, there exists no link between the recipient and the individual posting (Ali, 2012). A combination of TCP and IP, on the other hand, establishes a connection between hosts and allows them to send messages back and forth.
Internet Protocol Versions
There are two versions of internet protocols currently and these are IPv4 and IPv6. In as much as IP addresses are in the form of binary numbers, they can also be stored in the form of texts for human readers. The difference between IPv4 and IPv6 is that IPv4 is a 32-bit numeric which can be written in four numbers but are separated by a period. These numbers can assume a zero to a maximum of 255. An example of this type of address is 1.121.65.250 (Govil, Kaur, & Kaur, 2008). On the other hand, IPv6 assumes a 128-bit IP address and can be written in hexadecimal but are separated by a colon, unlike IPv4. An example of this type of address is 4dde:1300:3:3232:f3ff:ce45:87cf. Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4) basically is the fourth version of IP which is generally used by devices over a given network through an addressing system. This type of internet protocol is designed for use in an interconnected system of packet-switched computer communication networks (Raicu & Zeadally, 2003). In most devices connected to the internet, the most commonly used internet protocol is IPv4. This is because it utilizes a 32-bit address scheme which provides for a total of more than a billion addresses. IPv6, on the other hand, is a new addressing system which is basically being used to fulfill the need for more internet addresses. Basically, IPv6 is an upgrade of IPv4.
In many ways, IPv6 outlines a number of significant advantages over the IPv4. First, the IPv6 provides more address space. This is essential for larger business scales for example Comcast. Again, the IPv6 provides more powerful internet which is 128-bit but compared to 32-bit IPv4 (Sailan, Hassan, & Patel, 2009). Other advantages include address allocation being done by the device itself, provides an overall larger scale internet which is good as it will be more applicable in the future and it supports security through Internet Protocol Security (IPsec).
Basically, IPv4 is over however on the surface it seems calm. The sad news is that the top level body which is responsible for assigning IPv4 addresses IANA in the year 2011 announced that it no longer has IPv4 blocks to distribute. In this manner, another is required and this means that IPv6 is bound to shape the future use of network DNS (Ali, 2012). Additionally, this shows that IPv6 is on by default in that it is currently in use and will be in use for quite a while in the future. Another critical aspect is that cloud computing which is taking shape in the current technological developments needs IPv6. Cloud computing offers cheap and powerful resources such as applications, databases, system administrations, and security. The IP addresses are critical for these cloud computing processes which are conveniently provided for by IPv6.
References
Ali, A. N. A. (2012). Comparison study between IPV4 & IPV6. International Journal of Computer Science Issues (IJCSI) , 9 (3), 314.
Raicu, I., & Zeadally, S. (2003, February). Evaluating IPv4 to IPv6 transition mechanisms. In Telecommunications, 2003. ICT 2003. 10th International Conference on (Vol. 2, pp. 1091-1098). IEEE.
Govil, J., Kaur, N., & Kaur, H. (2008, April). An examination of IPv4 and IPv6 networks: Constraints and various transition mechanisms. In Southeastcon, 2008. IEEE (pp. 178-185). IEEE.
Sailan, M. K., Hassan, R., & Patel, A. (2009, August). A comparative review of IPv4 and IPv6 for research test bed. In Electrical Engineering and Informatics, 2009. ICEEI'09. International Conference on (Vol. 2, pp. 427-433). IEEE.
