An IP address serves two main functions: identifying and addressing the host or network interface. Its role has been characterized as follows: A name indicates what we are looking for. An address indicates where it is located. An itinerary shows how to get there. The designers of the Internet Protocol defined an IP address as a 32-bit number, and this system, known as Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4), is still in use today. However, due to the growth of the Internet and the expected exhaustion of available addresses, a new version of IP (IPv6), using 128 bits for the address, was developed in 1995. IPv6 was standardized under the named RFC 2460 in 1998, and its deployment has been underway since