Differences IPv4 Vs IPv6

I had compiled differences between IPv6 and IPv4 long back. Though it is for my personal reference I am uploading it on my blog. Hope someone might find this useful.

Thanks to those known and known sources who helped me compile this.

IPv4	IPv6
IPv4 addresses are 32 bits (4 bytes) in length.	IPv6 addresses are 128 bits (16 bytes) in length.
IPv4 addresses are numeric and typically written in decimal digits.	IPv6 addresses are alphanumeric in nature and typically written in hexadecimal.
IPv4 addresses are divided into four 8-bits blocks.	IPv6 addresses are divided into eight 16-bits blocks.
IPv4 address 8-bit blocks are separated by a dot (.) symbol.	IPv4 address 8-bit blocks are separated by a colon (:) symbol
IPv4 has five different IP address classes namely, Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, and Class E.	IPv6 does not have any IP address classes.
IPv4 address types include Unicast, Multicast, and Broadcast.	IPv6 address types include Unicast, Multicast, and Anycast
IPv4 address space spans up to 4 billion unique IP addresses.	IPv6 address space spans up to 340 undecillion unique IP addresses.
IPv4 addressing supports Virtual Length Subnet Masking (VLSM)	IPv6 does not support VLSM
In DNS, IPv4 uses Address (A) resource records to map hostnames to IPv4 addresses.	In DNS, IPv6 uses Address (AAAA) resource records to map hostnames to IPv6 addresses.
In DNS, IPv4 uses Pointer (PTR) resource records in the IN-ADDR.ARPA DNS domain to map IPv4 addresses to hostnames.	In DNS, IPv6 uses Pointer (PTR) resource records in the IP6.ARPA DNS domain to map IPv6 addresses to hostnames.
In IPv4, IPSec is optional and should be supported externally.	In IPv6, IPSec support is not optional and it is mandatory.
IPv4 Header does not identify packet flow for QoS handling by routers	IPv6 Header contains the Flow Label field, which Identifies packet flow for QoS handling by the router. Thus IPv6 provides efficient QoS.
In IPv4, both routers and the sending host fragment packets.	With IPv6, routers do not support packet fragmentation. Only sending host fragments packets in IPv6.
IPv4 header includes a checksum.	IPv6 header does not include a checksum.
The header includes options.	Optional data is supported as extension headers.
In IPv4, ARP uses broadcast ARP requests to resolve IP to MAC/Hardware address.	In IPv6, Multicast Neighbor Solicitation messages resolve IP addresses to MAC addresses.
In IPv4, Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) manages membership in local subnet groups.	In IPv6, Multicast Listener Discovery (MLD) messages manage membership in local subnet groups.
IPv4 uses Broadcast addresses are used to send traffic to all nodes on a subnet.	IPv6 uses a link-local scope all-nodes multicast address.
IPv4 address can be configured either manually or through DHCP.	IPv6 does not require manual configuration or DHCP.
In IPv4, packet size must be 576-byte packet size (possibly fragmented).	In IPv6, packet size must support a 1280-byte packet size (without fragmentation).

Network Sorcery is a great place to find RFC(s). Refer to http://www.networksorcery.com/enp/protocol/ipv6.htm and http://www.networksorcery.com/enp/protocol/ip.htm links for related RFC(s) of IPv6 and IPv4 respectively.

Also, there is a good reference for Understanding IPv6 @ http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc786127.aspx

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Mandar is a seasoned software professional for more than a decade. He is Cloud, AI, IoT, Blockchain and Fintech enthusiast. He writes to benefit others from his experiences. His overall goal is to help people learn about the Cloud, AI, IoT, Blockchain and Fintech and the effects they will have economically and socially in the future.