The two current versions of IP protocols are IPv4 and IPv6, which diverge from each other in the number of IP addresses they support and their identification format.
IPv6 is the newest protocol and responds to the needs of an increasingly connected society with billions of devices requesting access to the Internet. The addresses of this version are composed of 128 bits, which multiplies almost to infinity the number of addresses that can be generated, about 340 sextillions, compared to the 43 billion of IPv4, currently almost exhausted due to the exponential multiplication of devices connected thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT).
An IPv6 network is identified through a hexadecimal combination of 8 groups of 16 bits each. The three leftmost fields of the address contain the site prefix, the next is the subnet ID and the four rightmost fields identify the interface ID.
The IPv4 address is divided into four groups of numbers or octets of 8 bits each, with digits between 0 and 255. Depending on whether it is an IP address for large networks, medium-sized networks, or for home use, the first group of octets, the first two or the first three, respectively, are used to identify the network, while the remaining groups, three, two or one, depending on the case, correspond to the device identifier.