Internet address test under way

Some of the world’s largest websites are helping to test out the next generation of internet networking today to ensure the world doesn’t run out of “virtual addresses” by next year.

Google, Facebook and Yahoo are among the 400 organisations taking part in World IPv6 Day, a global test run of a new version of a new way of assigning identifiers to everything online.

Web addresses typed into a browser, such as irishtimes.com, are converted, invisibly to most users, to a numeric code called an internet protocol (IP) address such as 195.7.33.37, which points to a specific site online. This system is called IPv4.

The last of these addresses were given out by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) in early February.

Once the last batch are assigned to devices, there won't be any more. And every device on the internet - whether it's your home computer, a smartphone, or the servers that websites are kept on - needs a virtual address to work.

An IPv6 address is a longer string of numbers and letters, allowing many more combinations, according to the Internet Society, the group which organised the project.

While the existing system has more than four billion potential addresses, the new IPv6 system offers 340 "undecillion" addresses – an undecillion being a one with 36 zeros after it.

With the enormous growth of internet-enabled mobile phones and other devices, the demand for IP addresses is growing, and many experts believe the existing supply will be exhausted for some regions later this year and worldwide next year.

"This is a crucial phase in the transition, because while IPv6 is widely deployed in many networks, it's never been used at such a large scale before," Google wrote on their blog announcing their participation.

"We hope that by working together with a common focus, we can help the industry prepare for the new protocol, find and resolve any unexpected issues, and pave the way for global deployment."

Most internet users won't notice a difference. Google's own statistics show that less than 0.3 per cent of internet users are able to connect using the new system. For those few who can, there could be some connectivity issues, which is all part of the testing process.