Some of the world's biggest websites and content delivery networks will join forces for a global trial of IPv6 addresses tomorrow (June 8th 2011).

Google, Facebook and Yahoo!, which have more than one billion combined visits every day, are set to link up with Akamai, Limelight Networks and the Internet Society for the trial, which has been dubbed World IPv6 Day.

For 24 hours, the participants will enable IPv6 to operate on their main networks, as part of the measures to prepare for the dwindling supply of IPv4 addresses.

Unless rapid action is taken, web users everywhere will face limited functionality, while the industry will be hit with increased costs to roll out IPv6, the Internet Society claimed.

It is hoped that the decision of so many high-profile companies to take part in the event will spur other organisations, including broadband providers, operating system vendors and hardware manufacturers, to take their own preparations seriously.

Vint Cerf, Google's chief internet evangelist, described the switch to the new address format as one of the most important steps that will ever be taken to protect the web in its current form.

"It's as if the internet was originally designed with a limited number of telephone numbers and we're soon going to run out," he explained.

Ahead of the occasion, data security specialist Imperva has warned that the "immaturity" of the various implementations of the protocol could pose a risk to web users.

With IPv6 yet to be tested by hundreds of millions of browsers, the company claimed a "myriad of vulnerabilities in a variety of platforms" could be exposed on the day.

However, Virgin Media Business has previously urged people not to panic about the move, insisting the hysteria about the death of the internet is similar to the hype surrounding the Millennium Bug.

"Like Y2K, the impact of IPv6 has been widely exaggerated," argued Matt McCloskey, the cable company's head of applications and services.

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