Brent Wallis wrote:

On Thu, May 29, 2014 at 12:41 AM, Rohan McLeod <rhn@jeack.com.au <mailto:rhn@jeack.com.au>> wrote:

But how long before all 2^32 = 4.29 x 10 ^9 IPv4 addresses are gone ?

regards Rohan McLeod

Interesting question.... http://beta.slashdot.org/story/201101

The APNIC site seems to indicate we in Asutralia have a while yet: "The APNIC community ensured it will take many years for APNIC's IPv4 pool to be exhausted by creating a policy for the special distribution of APNIC's final /8 worth of addresses (16,777,216 addresses). The policy aims to ensure that new and emerging networks can continue to receive a small amount of IPv4 for many years to come..."

http://www.apnic.net/community/ipv4-exhaustion/ipv4-exhaustion-details

So a 'graceful' expansion to IPv6 's 2^128 = 3.4×10^38 backwardly compatible addresses is possible; there would still be a tendency for large companies say, to hang on to IPv4 addresses for as long as possible; to ensure exposure in both systems. Perhaps the time when IPv6 addresses out number IPv4 will be driven more by sociology and fashion, than plain address shortage ? regards Rohan McLeod