IPv4 Addresses to run out by 2010!

I came across an interesting article on Internet news.com that suggests the number of TCP-IP addresses available on the Internet are running low. The article also goes onto specify dates for when the addresses are predicted to run out.

The IPv4 Address Report lists two possible dates for when the number of IPv4 dates will run out:

April 17, 2010 or December 2, 2010, depending on the source.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) predicts the April 17 date. It manages IPv4 addresses, but does not handle things like end-users for ISPs. The Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) is a collection of regional bodies that distributed IP addresses to various areas, and made the December 2, 2010 prediction.

Regardless of whether it’s April or December of 2010, the time of reckoning is only three years away. Now the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), the organization responsible for giving out IP addresses in North America, has published a resolution exhorting the industry to get its tail in gear. ARIN is promoting a rapid move to IPv6 (define)ARIN says that 19 percent of the IPv4 addresses are still available, while 68 percent have been allocated and 13 percent are “unavailable,” whatever that could mean. There are 4.3 billion IPv4 addresses, or 2^32. IPv6 has 2^128 addresses, or 16 billion-billion.

There have been efforts to get more mileage out of IPv4 by using tricks like conversions to IPv6 or using duplicate IPv4 addresses within a firewall. This has helped extend the lifespan of IPv4 but it only prolonged the inevitable.