# IPv6

IPv6 stands for Internet Protocol version 6. It is a protocol used to identify devices on a network and route Internet Protocol (IP) packets between them.

IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses, which are expressed in eight groups of hexadecimal numbers separated by colons, for example, 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334. Each group represents 16 bits, allowing for a total of 2^128 or approximately 340 undecillion unique IP addresses.

IPv6 was developed as a replacement for IPv4, which had a limited address space that was becoming increasingly depleted as more devices were being connected to the Internet. In addition to its expanded address space, IPv6 includes a number of other features, such as improved security, auto-configuration, and support for multicast traffic.

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