IPv4 address exhaustion


IPv4 address exhaustion

The continual depletion of Internet addresses that conform to the original 32-bit IPv4 addressing scheme. IPv4 provides 4.3 billion unique addresses, but they are rapidly being eliminated as remaining addresses are assigned to more and more organizations and devices that go online. The IPv6 128-bit addressing scheme provides "skintillions" of addresses. See IANA, IPv6 and IP address.