IP address's will last only for 500 days

It has emerged that the IP addresses used in helping to distinguish one computer from another are expected to run out in approximately 500 days.

The unique numbers, which are known as Internet Protocol addresses, help identify the world's networked devices. An IP address uses four numbers from 0 to 255 to mark a computer from another. As an example, computers around the world can recognise the IP address 203.26.51.71 as a server for fairfax.com.au, which publishes the Sydney Morning Herald, which carried the report, online.


There are more than four billion combinations. But the proliferation of networked devices means soon that will no longer be enough. In a way, IP addresses are like phone numbers, which need to be entered correctly if a right connection is to be made. So the ability to uniquely identify everything in the computer world is essential.

The shortage means that every web server, every iPhone, every router and everything else — possibly billions of devices — will need to be reconfigured or upgraded.

Computers now use IP version 4 and have since the 1980s. Its replacement is version 6, known as IPv6. For humans, little will change.