Is your network IPv6-ready?
The end (at least for IPv4) is near. According to the June 2008 OECD Report on Internet Address Space, 80% of the world's IPv4 addresses (the current Internet Protocol standard) were already exhausted by September 2007. As the demand for IP addresses continues to accelerate due to rapid population growth, broadband deployment, and global demand for unique addresses for communication applications—such as Voice over IP (VoIP), mobile phones, and connecting sensors over the Internet—the transition of the Internet to IPv6 has become the only practical and readily available long-term solution. With the global migration to IPv6 well underway, you don't want to be left behind. Read on to learn about the basics of IPv6, its current deployment status, and how to make sure your network is IPv6-ready.
The next generation
Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) is the next generation protocol designed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to replace Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4). When IPv4 was originally developed, the sheer vastness of today's Internet was beyond imagination. Although this protocol remains the current standard for the Internet, its limitations have been surfacing for some time. The primary constraint is that IPv4 address space only allows up to four billion nodes on the network, and the number of free addresses is rapidly depleting due to the Internet's continuous expansion. In contrast, IPv6 allows for 340 undecillion (340 x 1036) addresses, large enough to accommodate expansion of the Internet to include every electronic device in the world—now and in the future.
Experts foresee that the depletion of unallocated IPv4 addresses will become a major problem within the next two to three years, unless an alternative solution is found. According to Geoff Huston, the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA) will exhaust all available IPv4 addresses in the IANA pool by 2010 and the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) will run out of large unallocated contiguous blocks of IPv4 addresses in 2011 (Chart 1 and 2)¹ if current allocation rates prevail.
Chart 1: IPv4 address exhaustion by IANA
Chart 2: IPv4 address exhaustion by RIR
¹OECD Report: “Internet Address Space”, Seoul, South Korea, 15–17 June, 2008.
Worldwide deployment status
It should be recognized that by the end of 2011, there will already be new clients and servers on the Internet with IPv6 addresses. Even if the rest of the world hasn't made the full migration to IPv6 by that point, IPv4 computers and devices will still need to access IPv6 servers and provide services to IPv6 customers.
In many cases, public procurement mandates play an important role in encouraging vendors to develop IPv6 solutions, which then speeds up deployment in the private sector. The United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has stated that by June 30, 2008, all network backbones for US federal agencies must adopt IPv6 and be able to interface with this infrastructure². According to OMB, agencies should focus on establishing secure, shared IPv6-enabled network services during their regular technology upgrade cycles.
Chart 3: IPv6 Transition Phases and Timeline in US Federal Agencies
²OMB Memorandum for the Chief Information Officers, M-05-22, August 2, 2005
To date, the OMB has not allocated any special funding for federal agencies to implement the transition to IPv6 even though the estimated expenditure by federal agencies was about US$56.5 million in 2007, according to Shawn McCarthy, Director of Research for government vendor programs for IDC's Government Insights. A report by RTI International for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released in October 2005 estimates that federal agencies will incur nearly $1.5 billion over the next five years, and $4.6 billion over the coming two decades in the process of transitioning to IPv6³.
In addition, there has already been significant progress by international governments in attempting to take the advantages of early deployment of IPv6. For example:
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The Next Generation Internet Project (CNGI) in China is a five-year plan with the objective of taking leadership in Internet and information technology. The core technology of CNGI is IPv6. China showcased CNGI and its IPv6 network infrastructure at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing this summer, networking everything from security cameras and taxis to the professional cameras covering Olympic events using IPv6. |
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In Europe, the mobile industry is a strong supporter of the transition to IPv6. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the IPv6 Forum have established a cooperation agreement. In addition to the agreement with ETSI, the IPv6 Forum has also partnered with UMTS Forum, GSM Association, and the 3GPP Group. |
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In the Asia-Pacific Region, the Japanese Ministry of Internet Affairs and Communications released the Guideline for e-Government IPv6 Systems in April 2007 to help central ministries and agencies plan for IPv6 adoption and promote IPv6 for e-Government systems. NTT Communications has already launched the world's largest tier one IPv6 backbone—the NTT Communications North American IPv6 Gateway Services. The Korean Ministry of Information and Communication has set targets to convert Internet equipment in public institutions to IPv6 by 2010. The Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) has also released its strategy for a three-stage transition to IPv6 for Australian Government agencies to last from January 2008 to December 2015. |
IPv6-ready industrial Ethernet switches
Both public and private sector companies are migrating to IPv6-compatible switches, routers and operating systems in PCs and servers. However, the few IPv6 compliant routers and switches available in the market today are mainly developed for office use. But industrial environments often involve unknown, hazardous factors that can interfere with the continuous operation of Ethernet devices. In fact, some of these factors may even cause serious disasters or the loss of life and property. As a result, system integrators need to choose products that are both IPv6-ready and industrial-grade to ensure reliable and ruggedized communication networks.
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