Maximal IPv6 address length

In this article, we're going to have a look at what is the maximal length for IP v6 addresses.

Quick overview:

Maximal IP v6 length is 45 characters.

What requires in computer memory 128 bits.

Simple preview:

Explanation

The most commonly known IP address format is:

2001:0db8:0000:0000:0000:ff00:0042:8329

8 * 4 + 7 = 39 characters (hexadecimal numbers separated with : character)

8 * 16 bits = 128 bits (: characters are omitted in this approach)

That can be written in shorter form too:

2001:db8:0:0:0:ff00:42:8329 
// or 
2001:db8::ff00:42:8329

In practice there is available IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses format too:

ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:192.168.100.100

6 * 4 + 6 + 4 * 3 + 3 = 45 characters

6 * 16 bits + 4 * 8 bits = 128 bits (: and . characters are omitted in this approach)

References

1. IPv4-mapped IPv6 addresses - Wikipedia