Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1:	Does IP protect data on the network?
A1:	IP itself does not guarantee data delivery. IP leaves all data protection issues to the transport protocol. Both TCP and UDP have mechanisms that guarantee that the data they deliver to an application is correct. IP does try to protect the packet's IP header, the relatively small part of each packet that controls how the packet is moved through the network. It does this by calculating a checksum on the header fields and including that checksum in the transmitted packet. The receiver verifies the IP header checksum before processing the packet. Packets whose checksums no longer match have been damaged in some way and are simply discarded.
2:	What is IPv6?
A2:	IP Version 6 (IPv6) is the newest version of IP, sometimes called IPng for "IP, Next Generation." IPv6 is defined but is not yet widely deployed. The main differences between IPv6 and the current version of IP (IPv4) are these: IPv6 uses larger addresses (128 bits instead of 32 bits in IPv4) and can support many more devices on the network. IPv6 includes features like authentication and multicasting that had been bolted on to IPv4 in a piecemeal fashion over the years.
3:	What is IPSec?
A3:	IPsec stands for IP Security. The IPsec working group of the IETF has developed standards for cryptographic authentication and for encryption within IP, often used to enable secure VPNs across a public IP network, such as the Internet.