It takes beyond just a big investment in digital infrastructure and new pieces of technology to build an energy-efficient and sustainable form of the world wide web. It will necessitate a change in the way in which we manage the protocols and resources that we already have.
The IPv4 Scarcity And The Transition To IPv6
IPv4 addresses work well enough, but there is a big issue with the internet resources. Only around 4.5 billion unique Internet Protocol version 4 addresses are available, but they all have been allotted. It means that the international IPv4 supply has been exhausted.
IPv6 was made to solve the impending IPv4 shortage issue and supports up to around 3.4×1038 addresses. While IPv6 has several benefits, it has a downside too. It is not the same as IPv4, which is widely utilized for older devices as well as is preferred over IPv6 in certain applications. A big part of the IPv4 resources is sitting idle at a few of the largest corporations in the world.
That is where it becomes useful to lease IP addresses of the fourth version. There are still several business and commercial applications that cause IP leasing to be a sustainable, affordable and convenient option for corporations, which require access to enough IP addresses for growth. Nevertheless, it is possible to use IPv4 leasing as not only a tool to reduce overheads and have convenient growth but also a way to reduce the internet-related environmental impact of a company.
IPv4 May Use Less Power As Compared To IPv6
It may not take as much power to connect a device to the web through IPv4 as with IPv6 in certain cases. A study from 2017 compared identical smartphones that ran on IPv6 and IPv4 technology. The preliminary outputs revealed that it took around 5% much more power for IPv6 to run. It may not appear to be a big amount but could contribute to considerable energy expenditure in the case of millions of devices.
More comprehensive tests are essential in the matter. That said, facts strongly indicate that using unused IP addresses instead of IPv6 addresses could offer tangible results while looking to cut down not just energy costs but also international power consumption.
Limit Energy Waste Through Leasing
The old, reliable IPv4 will be around for a long time. Meanwhile, it will take the efficient and clever use of digital resources to not only address climate change but also build a sustainable internet and future. IPv4 address leasing is an effective and simple way of making a useful environmental impact with no big upfront investment. IPv4 has been catering to the global digital landscape for years now; with the utilization of efficient address leasing, it can keep doing so into the so-called green future.
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