IPv4 and IPv6 address formats

Octets or segments, or a combination of both, make up Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) addresses.

An IPv4 address has the following format: x . x . x . x where x is called an octet and must be a decimal value between 0 and 255. Octets are separated by periods. An IPv4 address must contain three periods and four octets. The following examples are valid IPv4 addresses:
  • 1 . 2 . 3 . 4
  • 01 . 102 . 103 . 104
The following example shows a screen that uses IPv4 addresses.
Ethernet IPv4                Panel 0175

Current Settings Frame 1:

MAC Address: 18:36:F3:98:4F:9A
IP Address (IPv4):  19.117.63.126
Subnet Mask (IPv4): 255.255.253.0
Gateway (IPv4):     19.117.63.253

Ethernet Mode:  Manual IP Entry

Press ENTER to Change Settings

[BACK]  [ UP ]  [DOWN]   [ENTER]
An IPv6 address can have either of the following two formats:
  • Normal - Pure IPv6 format
  • Dual - IPv6 plus IPv4 formats

An IPv6 (Normal) address has the following format: y : y : y : y : y : y : y : y where y is called a segment and can be any hexadecimal value between 0 and FFFF. The segments are separated by colons - not periods. An IPv6 normal address must have eight segments, however a short form notation can be used in the Tape Library Specialist Web interface for segments that are zero, or those that have leading zeros. The short form notation can not be used from the operator panel.

The following list shows examples of valid IPv6 (Normal) addresses:
  • 2001 : db8: 3333 : 4444 : 5555 : 6666 : 7777 : 8888
  • 2001 : db8 : 3333 : 4444 : CCCC : DDDD : EEEE : FFFF
  • : : (implies all 8 segments are zero)
  • 2001: db8: : (implies that the last six segments are zero)
  • : : 1234 : 5678 (implies that the first six segments are zero)
  • 2001 : db8: : 1234 : 5678 (implies that the middle four segments are zero)
  • 2001:0db8:0001:0000:0000:0ab9:C0A8:0102 (This can be compressed to eliminate leading zeros, as follows: 2001:db8:1::ab9:C0A8:102 )
The following example shows a screen that uses IPv6 addresses:
Ethernet IPv6                Panel 0178

Current Settings 
Frame 1, Port B

MAC Address: 18:36:F3:98:4F:9A
Manual IP (IPv6):  684D:1111:222:3333:4444:5555:6:77 
DHCP IP (IPv6): Disabled 
Stateless Auto IP (IPv6): 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0

Press ENTER to Change Settings

[BACK]  [ UP ]  [DOWN]   [ENTER]
An IPv6 (Dual) address combines an IPv6 and an IPv4 address and has the following format: y : y : y : y : y : y : x . x . x . x. The IPv6 portion of the address (indicated with y's) is always at the beginning, followed by the IPv4 portion (indicated with x's).
  • In the IPv6 portion of the address, y is called a segment and can be any hexadecimal value between 0 and FFFF. The segments are separated by colons - not periods. The IPv6 portion of the address must have six segments but there is a short form notation for segments that are zero.
  • In the IPv4 portion of the address x is called an octet and must be a decimal value between 0 and 255. The octets are separated by periods. The IPv4 portion of the address must contain three periods and four octets.
The following list shows examples of valid IPv6 (Dual) addresses:
  • 2001 : db8: 3333 : 4444 : 5555 : 6666 : 1 . 2 . 3 . 4
  • : : 11 . 22 . 33 . 44 (implies all six IPv6 segments are zero)
  • 2001 : db8: : 123 . 123 . 123 . 123 (implies that the last four IPv6 segments are zero)
  • : : 1234 : 5678 : 91 . 123 . 4 . 56 (implies that the first four IPv6 segments are zero)
  • : : 1234 : 5678 : 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 (implies that the first four IPv6 segments are zero)
  • 2001 : db8: : 1234 : 5678 : 5 . 6 . 7 . 8 (implies that the middle two IPv6 segments are zero)