IPV6 address ¶

The Internet Protocol version 6 (IPV6) address is a 128-bit long address such as 2002:6963:6961:2046:616c:636f:6e20:3c33. It's 8 blocks of 16 bits, separated with :.

• The first 64 bits are called prefix (network address)
• The last 64 bits are called interface identifier (host address)

Because it's somewhat long, there are a few rules to shorten it

• Any leading $0$ in a block can be removed (0014 -> 14)
• A whole block of $0$ can be replaced with one $0$ (0000 -> 0)
• One, and only one suite of null-groups, may be merged in :: (...:0000:0000:... -> ...::...)

➡️ See also "IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses"

There are 8 kinds of IPV6 addresses