IPv4 addresses will run out within months, NRO warns

From InfoWorld: The global body in charge of allocating Internet addresses expects to hand out the final blocks of IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) addresses to regional registrars early next year, it said Monday.

Those allocations would mark a depletion at the global level of IPv4 addresses -- something that has been anticipated for years -- and put further pressure on network operators to switch to the newer IPv6 address system, which has massively more addresses available.

After a recent allocation of IPv4 numbers to APNIC, the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for the Asia Pacific region, the Number Resources Organization (NRO) said that the global pool of free addresses it manages now stands at just 12 blocks. Each block represents 16 million addresses, or 1/256th of the roughly 4 billion IPv4 addresses available.

"This is a major milestone in the life of the Internet, and means that allocation of the last blocks of IPv4 to the RIRs is imminent," said Axel Pawlik, NRO chairman, in a statement. "It is critical that all Internet stakeholders take definitive action now to ensure the timely adoption of IPv6."

IP addresses lie at the heart of communication on the Internet. Each computer, server and router connected to the Internet needs its own address and traffic is routed across the global network using these addresses.

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