Introduction IPv4 was designed in the 1970s, a time when the number of devices having access to internet was limited with only a few thousand computers in operation. Consequently, the internet protocol’s ability to accommodate an approximate four billion numeric addresses was deemed sustainable at the time. However, modern technological innovations have increased the number of internet-enabled devices and have significantly reduced their cost making them more widespread which in turn has resulted in IPv4 exhaustion. In response to this, designers have developed the IPv6, which allows for more numerical addresses. However, this may be effective only in the short run due the increasing numbers of devices that have access to the internet such as phones, printers, and computers etc. which have to be given unique IP addresses. This calls for the need to develop other strategies of overcoming the problem of address space exhaustion. The huge internet explosion that has taken place in the recent past has put IP version 4 at a greater risk of running out of addresses since it is unable to accommodate the rapidly increasing number of devices that now require public addresses. Solution 1: development of IPv6 In response to the growing concerns regarding the exhaustion of numeric addresses in IP version 4, internet designers have sought to establish a long term solution to the problem by launching a new addressing format IPv6 which seeks to rectify the limitations of IPv4. IP version 6 uses 128 bits for addressing while the IP version 4 only 32 bits to represent addresses (Deal, 2008). This enables IPv6 to create billions of extra numerical addresses adequate to cater for future unprecedented demand. Designers have strategized to introduce IPv6 while the IPv4 is still in use, hoping that the IP version 6 will eventually replace IPv4. Solution 2: implementation of IPv6 While IP version 6 is widely viewed as a major revamp of the earlier version’s architecture and largely driven by a shortage in IP addresses, it is more correct to say that it was motivated by fragmentation of address space (Chapman, 2000). The version evidently provides a larger volume of address nodes and utilizes a simpler configuration of addresses. In addition, the version is considered more efficient since the designers used the opportunity to address other limitations of internet protocol such as encryption, authentication, source rooting and dynamic configuration (Chapman, 2000). Since IPv6 has been designed to establish an efficient able routing infrastructure that derives its basics from hierarchical levels of internet service providers, it significantly minimizes the above problems making the internet experience much more efficient. Its implementation will therefore provide users with an enhanced internet experience in addition to a larger volume of internet protocol addresses. Problems with the IPv6 implementation Not everyone holds the opinion that IP version 6 is an inevitable upgrade (Loshin, 2004). In fact, even after its establishment, IPv4 remains widely used despite the predictions for its exhaustion. IPv6 implementation is expected to be an expensive hustle for a crisis that