IPv4 and IPv6 are information transfer protocols that use 32—bit and 128-bit source and destination address fields, respectively.
IPv4 was adopted as a standard in September 1981. It is a digital record that consists of 4 three-digit numbers. Each number is separated from the next by a dot, and at the end, a subnet mask is written through a slash.
IPv6 is a continuation of the previous generation of protocols. It was developed in 1996. Its use made it possible to increase the available address space (128 bits versus the old 32), improve data transfer security, provide flexible extensibility, etc.
