IPv6 is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol, designed to replace IPv4. It addresses the issue of IPv4 address exhaustion by using 128-bit addresses, allowing for a significantly larger number of unique IP addresses. IPv6 addresses are typically written as eight groups of four hexadecimal digits, separated by colons, like 2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334. This expansion ensures the growing demand for internet addresses, especially with the proliferation of internet-connected devices.
