VOA慢速英语:Shortage of Internet Addresses, but a Slow Move to New System

Last Wednesday, June eighth, was World IPv6 Day -- the first major deployment of Internet Protocol version 6. Hundreds of Internet service providers and Web companies tested IPv6 on their websites.
上周三，6月8日是世界IPv6日——IPv6第一次重大部署。数以百计的互联网服务供应商和网络公司在自己的网站上对IPv6进行测试。

This new numbering system for Internet addresses has been available for years. But very few companies have switched to it. Yet the old system could run out of addresses this year because of all the growth in online devices. Doug Szajda, a computer science professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia, explains.
这种新的互联网地址的编号系统已经可用好几年了。但是极少公司转换为这种系统。然而，由于网络设备的增长，旧的系统地址今年或将用完。弗吉尼亚州瑞奇蒙大学一名计算机科学教授Doug Szajda解释。

DOUG SZAJDA: "It’s sort of like the post office of the Internet. It tells you how to get information from one computer to another. Currently, and since around nineteen eighty, the addressing system has been IP version 4. But the problem with that is that we’ve run out of addresses. So it’s almost as if, when a new house is built, you can’t give it an address because you don’t have any more."
Doug Szajda：“这有点像网上邮局。它告诉你一台计算机如何从另一台计算机获取信息。从大约从1980年至今，整个地址系统一直是IPv4。但是这其中的问题是这些地址将用完。所以就如，建好一座新房子时，你不能给它一个地址，因为你已经没有地址了。

IPv4 was designed to handle just over four billion IP addresses. Doug Szajda says that seemed like more than enough
IPv4当初设计只能处理超过40亿个IP地址。Doug Szajda称那在当时看起来很充足。

DOUG SZAJDA: "At the time that IP version 4 was designed, the designers were anticipating perhaps thousands of users of the Internet someday, and certainly thinking that four billion addresses was many more than we would ever need."
Doug Szajda：“设计IPv4时，设计者们预计某天可能有成千上万名互联网用户，他们必然认为40亿个地址远远超过我们的需求。”

Yet now, not just computers but smartphones, cars, televisions, game systems and plenty of other devices all connect to the Internet. Each uses a different IP address.
但是现在，不仅计算机，还有智能手机，汽车，电视，游戏系统和许多其他的设备都连接到互联网。每种设备都使用不同的IP地址。

The basic standards for IPv6 were first published in nineteen ninety-eight. Doug Szajda says its most important feature is the ability to provide what seems like an unlimited number of IP addresses. Well, there is a limit -- three hundred forty trillion trillion trillion in fact, or three hundred forty undecillion. That's three hundred forty followed by thirty-six zeros.
IPv6的基本标准在1998年首次发布。Doug Szajda称它最重要的特点就是能够提供看似无限个IP地址。不过也有限制——事实上是340万亿万亿万亿，或340×1036。即是340后面跟着36个零。

Experts say the challenge now is to get the world to use it. Mr. Szajda says that was the real purpose of last week’s World IPv6 Day sponsored by the Internet Society.
专家称，目前面临的挑战是让全世界都使用它。Szajda称这是上周互联网协会发起的世界IPv6日的真正目的。

DOUG SZAJDA: "It was less a worldwide test than a means of generating some incentive for vendors to realize we can’t drag our feet anymore. This has to happen.”
Doug Szajda：“这不仅仅是一个世界性的测试，而且是一种使供应商产生动机，让他们意识到我们不能停滞不前的方法。这是必须发生的。”

The process of switching to IPv6 can be complex and costly. This could explain why so few companies have made the switch. CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association, recently did an opinion study. The group talked to more than four hundred information technology and business leaders in the United States. Only twenty-one percent said they have started doing work to upgrade their networks to the new system.
向IPv6转换的过程将很复杂很昂贵。这就可以解释为什么这么少公司进行转换。美国计算机行业协会（CompTIA）最近进行了一项民意调查。该组织与美国超过400名信息技术和商业领导人进行对话。只有21%的人表示他们已经开始着手将他们的网络更新到新的系统。