All network administrators are familiar with IPv4, but as IPv6 migrations pick up in different parts of the world, the need for administrators to become familiar with IPv6 becomes important. One familiar address in IPv4 is the loopback address, which is typically used for testing whether your network interface is working by typing ping loopback or ping 127.0.0.1 at a command prompt. The loopback address on an IPv6 network however is 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 which is abbreviated as ::1, so if you want to test your network interface in Windows Vista where IPv6 is enabled by default, you can type ping ::1 instead.

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Mitch Tulloch is President of MTIT Enterprises, an IT content development company based in Winnipeg, Canada. Prior to starting his own company in 1998, Mitch worked as a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) for Productivity Point International. Mitch is a widely recognized expert on Windows administration, networking and security and has written 14 books and over a hundred articles on various topics. He has been repeatedly awarded Most Valuable Professional (MVP) status by Microsoft for his outstanding contributions in supporting users who deploy Microsoft platforms, products and solutions. Mitch is also a professor at Jones International University (JIU) where he teaches graduate-level courses in Information Security Management (ISM) for their Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program. For more information see http://www.mtit.com.