6 Advantages and Disadvantages of IPv4 | Drawbacks & Benefits of IPv4

Networking and data transmission have grown in importance in today's online culture. The primary networking protocol utilized in the internet paradigm is called Internet Protocol (IP).

One such internet protocol is IPv4, which generates 4 billion unique addresses using a 32-bit addressing technique. Indeed, it's the most widely used protocol for data transfer.

IPv6 emerged as a replacement for IPv4 since the latter was unable to foresee the expansion of the internet. Even though IPv6 was launched as an improvement over Internet Protocol, many users continue to use the outdated IPv4 paradigm.

As a result, switching to IPv6 is not always a wise decision. Understanding IPv4 protocol module's benefits and drawbacks is essential before beginning.


I'll be outlining the 6 Advantages and Disadvantages of IPv4 | Drawbacks & Benefits of IPv4 in this post, along with some pros and cons. You will learn about the pros and cons of utilizing the IPv4 module from this page.

Now let's get started,

 

Advantages of IPv4

1. Encryption

Encrypting data is essential whenever communications are utilized in public settings in order to protect privacy. Data in IPv4 address packets is encrypted as a security measure. Thus, IPv4 maintains security and anonymity to a greater degree.


2. Flexibility

With IPv4, routing is now more efficient since addresses are merged more effectively. As a result, businesses that frequently utilize multicast have more focused data communication.


3. Topology Support

In contrast to IPv6, which most topology drawings find difficult to implement, IPv4 is readily supported by the majority of topology drawings. This is due to the fact that it has straightforward prefixes that fit inside them with ease.


4. System Support

All systems are capable of handling the IPv4 routing that is part of the IPv4 protocol with ease. As a result, the majority of widely used systems are able to support the IPv4 protocol.


5. Device Connectivity 

IPv4's main purpose is to link all kinds of devices together throughout the vast network. Every device can have its identification verified in addition to the connection. Additionally, none of those require the use of NAT.


6. Data Delivery

IPv4 goes to tremendous lengths to ensure that data packets reach their intended host. This is due to the fact that the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) employs IPv4 versions. As a result, data transmission and duplication avoidance are guaranteed. 

 

 

Disadvantages of IPv4

1. Configurations

IPv4 requires manual or automatic configuration. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol must be used to manually configure IPv4 (DHCP). Because its infrastructure requires independent control, DHCP configurations are complicated.


2. Security

Given that IPv4 was released many years ago, it was not intended to provide protection against current threats. 

 

Consequently, by defining how the internet is to be used, Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) makes network security possible for IPv4. However, the issue arises when IPSec is optional and not integrated into the system.


3. Infrastructure

Individual address prefixes are allocated in IPv4 so that each one can function as a new router. In addition, modern internet routers are hierarchical and flat. On the other hand, the internet backbone routers have over 85,000 routes.


4. Mobility

Despite having a standard for mobility, IPv4 is seen to be wasteful. This is because it is equipped with its own infrastructure. Its mobility nodes are therefore also inefficient.


5. Access Space

Depletion of public address is an additional issue with IPv4 use. The original address class allocation procedures are mostly to blame for this. 

 

The Network Address Translation (NAT) procedure is introduced to counteract this constraint of address space. Several computers with private addresses share a single public IPv4 address under NAT.


6. Geographical Restrictions

The United States of America is credited with establishing the internet. As a result, this nation participates in the IP address distribution procedure as well. In actuality, the majority of US addresses are reserved.