**IPv4 address exhaustion**

Here's an article about the **IPv4 address exhaustion**:

## IPv4 Address Exhaustion: A Brief Overview

The **IPv4 address exhaustion** refers to the depletion of the pool of unallocated IPv4 addresses. Let's dive into the details:

### Background
- The original Internet architecture was designed with fewer than 4.3 billion IPv4 addresses available.
- Since the late 1980s, when the Internet started experiencing rapid growth, experts anticipated this depletion.
- The scarcity of IPv4 addresses led to the development and deployment of its successor protocol, **IPv6**.

### How IP Addresses Work
- Every device on an Internet Protocol (IP) network (e.g., computers, routers, printers) is assigned an IP address.
- IPv4 provides a total of 2^32 (approximately 4.3 billion) addresses.
- However, large blocks of IPv4 addresses are reserved for special uses and are unavailable for public allocation.

### Accelerating Factors
Several market forces accelerated IPv4 address depletion:
1. **Growing Internet Users**: The increasing number of Internet users worldwide.
2. **Always-On Devices**: The proliferation of always-on devices (e.g., smartphones, IoT devices).
3. **Mobile Devices**: The surge in mobile devices connected to the Internet.

### Exhaustion Timeline
- The top-level exhaustion occurred on **January 31, 2011**.
- All regional Internet registries (RIRs) have exhausted their address pools, except those reserved for IPv6 transition.
- Specific dates for exhaustion:
    - **Asia-Pacific (APNIC)**: April 15, 2011
    - **Latin America and the Caribbean (LACNIC)**: June 10, 2014
    - **North America (ARIN)**: September 24, 2015
    - **Africa (AfriNIC)**: April 21, 2017
    - **Europe, Middle East, and Central Asia (RIPE NCC)**: November 25, 2019

### Post-Exhaustion Measures
- RIRs still allocate recovered addresses or those reserved for special purposes.
- Individual ISPs may recycle unassigned IP addresses no longer needed by subscribers.

### IPv6: The Solution
- IPv6 provides an enormous address space (2^128 addresses).
- It coexists with IPv4 on the Internet.
- Transition mechanisms facilitate the gradual adoption of IPv6.

In summary, while IPv4 addresses are nearly exhausted, the implementation of IPv6 ensures that we won't truly run out of IP addresses. The transition to IPv6 is essential for the continued growth of the Internet¹². 🌐🔗

Source: Conversation with Copilot, 5/21/2024
(1) IPv4 address exhaustion - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv4_address_exhaustion.
(2) Are We Running Out Of IP Addresses? » Science ABC. https://www.scienceabc.com/innovation/are-we-running-out-of-ip-addresses.html.
(3) IPv4 - this time it’s really over | TechRadar. https://www.techradar.com/news/ipv4-this-time-its-really-over.