An improved version of IPv4 for the transfer of information between devices in local and global networks. Its 128-bit identifier gives IPv6 a larger address space. IPv6 addresses consist of eight groups of characters, separated by a colon. The format allows zero groups to be omitted and replaced with a double colon (for example, the address f9e:0:0:0:0:0:0:63ca can be written f9e::63ca).
It is assumed that IPv6 will gradually replace IPv4 as free addresses become sparse, but so far its share of connections is not massive.