Tunnel adapters are a way for IPv6 networks (semi new) to send data through IPv4 (1970s) networks. Back in the 1970s when IPv4 networks were implemented, there were 4,294,967,296 (2^32) created. The addresses soon started to run short as the year 2000 approached, so IPv6 was implemented due to the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses. There are 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 (3.4x10^38) IPv6 addresses, thus it is unlikely that they will ever be exhausted.
The Purpose of Tunnel Adapters
Tunnel adapters were implemented because it allowed IPv6 packets with a IPv4 header to be sent across a IPv4 network. The other ways of using a IPv6 network with IPv4 networks often were more difficult to implement or less efficient to use. Thus allowing "Automatic Tunneling Pseudo-Interface" to be widely spread and used.
Removing Tunnel Adapters/ Getting Past Them (ipconfig)
There is no real need to delete them as that may cause system damage so instead the way to get past tunnel adapters to find ip information is to type into command prompt "ipconfig /all |more" and then press 'enter' several times on the keyboard until you come across the information you are looking for.
 |
| Press 'Enter' several times for all the information to be revealed. The symbol "|" can be found right above the 'enter' key on the keyboard and is under the 'backspace' button. |
 |
| Right above the 'Enter' key and just below the 'Backspace' key. |
The Benefits of IPv6
-Its large address space, stops any further exhaustion of ip addresses.
-It has better security because it requires Internet Protocol Security (also known as IPSec), in IPv4 it is only optional.
-It is has much better mobility for networking. If a machine changes location on a IPv6 network, it will still maintain all the existing connections -- this is often not the case on IPv4 networks. The new fields in the IPv6 header for the packets being downloaded change how their traffic is handled. If a packet belongs to a series of packets, it will be handled more efficiently.
-It has better security because it requires Internet Protocol Security (also known as IPSec), in IPv4 it is only optional.
-It is has much better mobility for networking. If a machine changes location on a IPv6 network, it will still maintain all the existing connections -- this is often not the case on IPv4 networks. The new fields in the IPv6 header for the packets being downloaded change how their traffic is handled. If a packet belongs to a series of packets, it will be handled more efficiently.
Hope this helps!
-TerrabyteCafe
