new "internet" numbers and linux?

[Mike Bilow]

Robert Luoma wrote in a message to Mike Bilow:

 RL> I have heard rumors and even heard of a book
 RL> on a new numbering scheme for the internet.
 RL> I was wondering if anyone could give a brief
 RL> explanation on how this new scheme would work
 RL> and what impact (if any) is it having on
 RL> Linux's internet capabilities.

There are a number of things you could be talking about.  Classless
Inter-Domain Routing, CIDR, is a mechanism for aggregating and splitting the
traditionally-sized networks within IP, which were previously always allocated
on octet boundaries.  IPng is the "next-generation" of IP, which will allow
addresses larger than the present 32 bits.  It moves around a lot, but the
target for implementing IPng is somewhere around the year 2000.

If you are looking for a good, although technical, introductory book on these
subjects, I would recommend Christian Huitema's "Routing the Internet," which
was only published a few months ago and which is quite up to date.  If you have
some specific questions, you can ask them here and I'll try and answer.
 
-- Mike


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