Access MaxMind's data services via IPv6

We’re happy to announce that MaxMind’s roll out of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) access for our GeoIP2, Legacy GeoIP, Proxy Detection, and minFraud web service endpoints is complete. This update means each service is queryable at an IPv6 address in addition to existing Internet Protocol version 4 ( IPv4 ) addresses; no API updates are required. Your development team will be happy to know that MaxMind is IPv6-ready as Internet users transition to IPv6. By supporting IPv6 access to our services, MaxMind is making it possible for early adopters of IPv6 to access our services without having to resort to an IPv4 connection. IPv4 is currently used by the vast majority of our users to access our services and used by web users to access Internet content generally.

For details on our servers’ IPv6 address records, see the web service release notes .

IP Address 101: What are IPv4 and IPv6? What does the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 mean?

Internet Protocol (IP) addresses are numbers used to identify devices on networks so that data can be sent between them. IP addresses make the Internet possible. Every point of an IP network, such as a computer, router, or network printer, is assigned an IP address that is used to locate and identify the devices in communication with other devices on the network.

The designers of the Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4), not envisioning how the Internet would grow, defined IP addresses as 32-bit numbers. In non-tech speak, this means there are a little more than 4 billion (2^32) possible addresses. As the Internet has become more popular, and as the number of devices per person has increased, it’s become obvious that 4 billion addresses just isn’t enough, even with clever attempts at extension ! In addition to introducing several other updates, IPv6 supports 128-bit IP addresses, meaning there are up to 2^128 or 3.4 * 10^38 IP addresses available - a number unlikely to be exhausted. A global transition to IPv6 is necessary because IPv4 cannot accommodate the large and increasing number of devices on the Internet.

In brief, Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is a necessary revision of the IPv4 communication protocol used to route Internet traffic. The need for companies to support and use IPv6 will become increasingly urgent in coming years. MaxMind is happy to support IPv6 access to its services.