The internet has undergone extraordinary growth over the past decade, to the point where it's running out of addresses.

    Every device linked to the internet – not only computers, but also mobile phones, gaming consoles, digital TVs and even cars with sat-nav systems, for example – has been assigned a number that lets it connect with the rest of the devices on the network. These numbers, or IP addresses, are critical for the operation of the internet – without them it simply could not work, as devices would be unable to address or talk with one another effectively.

    The biggest threat that the internet faces today is that we're running out of IP addresses. The number of unassigned addresses under the current system – IP version 4 or IPv4 for short – will soon drop through the 10 per cent mark, and is expected to run out completely in 2011.

    The explosive growth of the internet and the rapid adoption of networked digital devices worldwide has led to this IP address exhaustion. The technical community has been aware of the issue for many years, recognising that a new protocol was required to meet future demand. It was with this in mind that the next-generation of IP addresses, IPv6, was developed in the mid-1990s.

    Unlike IPv4 addresses, of which there are about 4.3 billion in total, IPv6 addresses have a longer format, allowing for about a trillion trillion addresses in total, or 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 to be precise. That's more than enough to ensure that internet development continues at the same pace it has for the past ten years.

    The uptake of IPv6 addresses has so far been slow, but it is paramount that ISPs, governments and private companies now make it a priority to accelerate adoption. Only by ensuring that all devices connected to the internet are compatible with IPv6, can we stay connected and safeguard sustainable growth in the years to come.

    互聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)經(jīng)歷了過去10年的迅速增長(zhǎng)， 以至于現(xiàn)在創(chuàng)建的網(wǎng)址已大大超出了互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的承受范圍。

    連接到互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的設(shè)備-不僅是電腦，而且手機(jī)，游戲機(jī)，數(shù)字電視，甚至汽車，例如安裝了座駕導(dǎo)航系統(tǒng)的汽車就被指派一個(gè)數(shù)字

    以便將其連接到其它的網(wǎng)絡(luò)設(shè)備。這些數(shù)字或IP地址，對(duì)于互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的運(yùn)作是至關(guān)重要的-沒有它們，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)根本無(wú)法工作。 因?yàn)闆]有了它們，系統(tǒng)無(wú)法定位，相互之間也無(wú)法進(jìn)行有效交談。

    當(dāng)今互聯(lián)網(wǎng)面臨的最大威脅是，現(xiàn)在創(chuàng)建的網(wǎng)址已大大超出了互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的承受范圍。若使用現(xiàn)有系統(tǒng)--IP版本4（簡(jiǎn)稱為IPv4）,在不久的將來，未分配的網(wǎng)址數(shù)量將減少百分之十。IP版本4預(yù)計(jì)在2011年運(yùn)行。