Overview

IP addresses allow machines to address each other across a network. IPv4 is still the most widely used version of the protocol, but the IPv4 address space is being consumed rapidly. IPv6 is the most recent version of the protocol, designed to solve the address space problem.

Terminology

  • IP Address
    A unique identifier for a device on a network (e.g., 192.168.1.10 or 2001:db8::1)
  • IPv4
    32-bit addressing (e.g., 192.0.2.1), widely used but running out of addresses
  • IPv6
    128-bit addressing (e.g., 2001:db8::1), created to solve IPv4 exhaustion
  • Subnet
    A segment of an IP network defined by a subnet mask or prefix (e.g., /24 for IPv4, /64 for IPv6)
  • Default Gateway
    The router that forwards traffic to destinations outside the local network
  • Private IP
    IPs used only inside local networks (e.g., 192.168.0.0/16 or fd00::/8)
  • Public IP
    Globally routable addresses used on the Internet
  • NAT
    Network Address Translation, allows many devices to share one public IPv4 address
  • Loopback Address
    Refers to the local machine (127.0.0.1 for IPv4, ::1 for IPv6)
  • Broadcast
    (IPv4 only) Sends traffic to all devices in a subnet (e.g., 192.168.1.255)

Features

You can selectively enable IPv6 on new or existing instances. Once enabled, an IPv6 will be automatically configured on the first interface of your instance, along with its public IPv4 address.

Availability

ZoneCountryCityAvailability
at-vie-1AustriaVienna
at-vie-2AustriaVienna
ch-gva-2SwitzerlandGeneva
ch-dk-2SwitzerlandZurich
de-fra-1GermanyFrankfurt
de-muc-1GermanyMunich
bg-sof-1BulgariaSofia

Limitations

All IPv6 addresses for your organization are taken from the same /64 subnet (the beginning of the IPv6 address will always be the same). Currently, only one IPv6 address can be assigned for each instance. In the future, we will allow you to assign more IPv6 addresses. An instance that is transferred to a different organization will keep the primary IPv6 address of the source organization.