IPv6 Addresses for a Host

An IPv4 host with a single network adapter typically has a single IPv4 address assigned to that adapter. An IPv6 host, however, usually has multiple IPv6 addresses assigned to each adapter. The interfaces on a typical IPv6 host are assigned the following unicast addresses:

• A link-local address for each interface
• Additional unicast addresses for each interface (which could be a site-local address and one or multiple global addresses)
• The loopback address (::1) for the loopback interface

Typical IPv6 hosts are always logically multihomed because they always have at least two addresses with which they can receive packets—a link-local address for local link traffic and a routable site-local or global address.

Additionally, each interface on an IPv6 host is listening for traffic on the following multicast addresses:

• The node-local scope all-nodes multicast address (FF01::1)
• The link-local scope all-nodes multicast address (FF02::1)
• The solicited-node address for each unicast address
• The multicast addresses of joined groups