Today, we're diving into a quirky piece of network history with Hackaday's article "IPV4, IPV6… Hey! What Happened to IPV5?" The article unravels the mystery behind IPv5, explaining that there never really was an IPv5. Instead, a proposal for something known as the stream protocol—initially intended to manage voice and later video traffic—ended up using network protocol number 5 as a placeholder, even though it never caught on. The accompanying video by Navek explores the evolution from IPv4 to IPv6, detailing why the IP layer is solely focused on transporting data without awareness of bandwidth or voice quality. As one intriguing part of the article points out, "there simply was never an IPv5," reminding us that sometimes the numbers on our devices hide interesting backstories about technology that almost was.

Key Points:

• The article addresses the common curiosity about why IPv5 is missing from network configurations.
• A proposal for the stream protocol aimed at handling voice and video over IP was given the number 5, but it was never officially adopted.
• The video by Navek explains differences between IPv4 and IPv6, emphasizing that the IP layer doesn't account for bandwidth or quality of service.
• The article uses the historical detour as an entertaining look back at early attempts to optimize network traffic beyond simple data delivery.
• Note: The video takes a bit of time to get to the explanation of IPv5 and contains spoilers for those curious about the protocol's history.
  Link to Article