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IPv6 Transition Mechanisms

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The transition problem: 30 years and counting

IPv6 was standardized in 1998. IPv4 exhaustion began around 2011. Yet in 2024, ~40% of internet traffic is still IPv4. The reason: backward compatibility is hard. IPv6 and IPv4 are incompatible at the network layer — a pure IPv6 host can't talk to a pure IPv4 host without translation.

Multiple transition mechanisms exist for different scenarios.

Packets in motion — click to inspect:

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