Technical · Lexicon
IPv6, explained
IPv6 is an internet addressing protocol with a substantially larger address space than IPv4.
At a glance
- The field
- Technical
- Reading time
- 1 minute
- In this entry
- Meaning · relevance · limits
01
The meaning
IPv6 is an internet addressing protocol with a substantially larger address space than IPv4.
02
Why it matters
A service can publish an AAAA DNS record when IPv6 routing and firewall rules are correctly configured.
03
The boundary
Adding an IPv6 address without securing it can leave an access path outside IPv4-only controls.
04
Address capacity does not replace a firewall
A virtual server receives an IPv6 prefix and assigns addresses to services. Those services may be reachable directly even where the IPv4 deployment relied on address translation. Review the IPv6 firewall, DNS AAAA records and application listeners together, and retain IPv4 support where the intended clients need it.
- A /64 describes an address prefix; it is not a promise of a separate public network port for each address.
- Test both address families after every network or firewall change.