Introduction
The invention and the spread of the Internet radically altered human society. It became a critical tool for exchanging information and sharing data. The Internet helped to create a global network connecting individuals and organizations in various regions. However, effective interaction requires a specific Internet Protocol (IP) or a set of standards for addressing, routing, and exchanging data on the Internet.
Moreover, specific domains became critical for aligning more effective cooperation within the net. For this reason, IPv4 standards emerged as the basis for data exchange on the Internet. Thus, the evolution of technologies contributes to the emergence of a newer set of regulations known as IPv6. Both approaches have their differences, advantages, and disadvantages, which might substantially impact DNS in the future.
DNS
The Domain Name System (DNS) is one of the Internet’s pillars, allowing users to interact with each other. It is a specific database containing various addresses and information necessary to access different websites (Panek, 2020). Users can find information on the Internet by employing various domain names (Panek, 2020). The existing web browsers employ IP addresses that might be complex and contain information critical for connecting with a server.
Thus, DNS translates existing IP addresses into the domain or hostnames and vice versa (Panek, 2020). Every device linked to the Internet has its own unique IP address necessary to become a part of the network and cooperate with other devices (Panek, 2020). DNS simplifies this interaction; otherwise, individuals have to remember their IP addresses instead of simple hostnames (Panek, 2020). Nowadays, DNS is a global network containing numerous databases required to support Internet traffic. For an extended period, DNS has been working by using IPv4; however, introducing IPv6 might alter the existing approach.
IPv4
IPv4 is one of the first protocols used to support the functioning of the DNS. It emerged in the 1970s, which might help to understand its major peculiarities better (Panek, 2020). Thus, addresses of this type consist of 32 numeric characters (Panek, 2020). It means there are around 4.3 billion combinations of numbers that might be used to create a unique address (Pyles et al., 2016). The 32-bit numbers have four digits separated by periods with values ranging from 0 to 225 (Pyles et al., 2016). In a generalized way, it can be represented as x.x.x.x., or, for example, 192.0.0.147. Currently, it is the primary Internet protocol supporting around 94% of the traffic on the web (Panek, 2020). It simplifies the interaction between various domains and ensures the stable work of the DNS, which is fundamental for existing networks.
IPv6
IPv6 is a newer approach that might be used on the Internet. It emerged in the 1990s because of the expectations that the fast evolution of the network would lead to the exhaustion of the 4.3 billion address capacity mentioned above (Panek, 2020). The number of devices with the ability to access the Internet increases every year, meaning there is a need for a new and more capacious protocol to ensure users can operate within the DNS (Panek, 2020).
For this reason, IPv6 was created as the substitution for IPv4 and used a 128-bit address (Pyles et al., 2016). The approach guarantees that compared to IPv4, more addresses, around 3.4 undecillion, can be generated (Pyles et al., 2016). IPv6 has eight groups with four hexadecimal digits each (Pyles et al., 2016). In the generalized form, it can be presented as x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x. Moreover, as against IPv4, all sections are separated by colons.
Differences
In such a way, IPv4 and IPv6 are parts of the DNS necessary for aligning interactions within the Internet. However, the main difference is that the first one uses 32-bit numbers, while the second one employs a 128-bit address. This divergence comes from the need to create an increased number of combinations for future users and ensure the effective work of DNS. Moreover, in IPv4, the numbers are separated by dots, while in IPv6, the colons are used. Another critical difference is that IPv4 provides five classes of IP addresses, from A to E, while IP6 provides an opportunity to store an unlimited number of addresses (Pyles et al., 2016). These differences impact the emergence of specific advantages and disadvantages of every approach.
Advantages
Comparing the protocols, it is vital to focus on security as one of the major aspects of the Internet today. IPv4 was designed when less attention to security issues was devoted., which means that IPv6 DNS is more protected. It uses new IPSec protocols to guarantee end-to-end packet encryption (Panek, 2020). As a result, there is a reduced risk that data will be stolen or accessed by a third party. Moreover, the shift to IPv6 means that Network Address Translation (NAT) is not required (Pyles et al., 2016).
Initially, it was introduced to support IPv4 and resolve the problem of the limited number of addresses (Panek, 2020). It translated private addresses used locally to unique addresses for international use (Panek, 2020). However, as far as IPv6 resolves the problem of the lack of available combinations, NAT becomes unnecessary, which is also vital for overall improvement. Furthermore, IPv6 supports multicast, which allows sending data to a set of hosts (Pyles et al., 2016). It means that IPv6 DNS is more efficient in managing traffic.
Disadvantages
At the same time, some disadvantages should be considered. First of all, IPv6 DNS is incompatible with IPv4 (Panek, 2020). It means that shifting to using a newer protocol might take much time. Moreover, as far as IPv6 does not require NAT, security features peculiar to this framework do not work, and the internal IP addresses might be visible to others, which is viewed as one of the new system’s disadvantages (Panek, 2020). However, in most cases, IPv6 DNS is considered a more secure and better version that should be used in the future.
Possible Changes
The emergence and mass use of IPv6 might impact DNS and future interactions on the Internet. It is possible to expect a significant increase in traffic because of the ability to add new devices (Pyles et al., 2016). DNS servers will require more processing power and efficiency to manage the growing number of requests (Panek, 2020). Additionally, more protected and secured networks might emerge due to the massive use of IPv6 protocols (Panek, 2020). Moreover, decreasing limitations will lead to establishing new root server addresses necessary to support the speed of the Internet’s evolution (Panek, 2020). In this regard, DNS will continue to evolve and acquire new features necessary for enhanced interactions.
Conclusion
Altogether, the Internet continuously evolves, and the increasing number of users require new tools to align their effective interaction. IPv4, which uses 32-bit numbers, can be replaced by IPv6 as an alternative containing 128-bit addresses. It will allow more users to link their devices to the global network. Thus, IPv6 DNS might have numerous advantages, such as increased security levels, elimination of NAT, and multicast approaches. However, as there is a lack of backward compatibility, the transition to IPv6 requires time and corresponding changes network’s infrastructure.
References
Panek, C. (2020). Networking fundamentals. Wiley.
Pyles, J., Carrell, J., & Tittel, E. (2016). Guide to TCP/IP: IPv6 and IPv4 (5th ed.). Cengage Learning.