IPv6 Act Now

The University of Hawaiʻi (UH) has announced the creation of the Hawaiʻi IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) Task Force in partnership with the global IPv6 Forum. The Hawaiʻi IPv6 Task Force is dedicated to the local promotion and support of the next version of the rules that describe how computers and networks interconnect to provide internet services throughout the world.

Vint Cerf, honorary chair of the global IPv6 Forum congratulated UH for establishing the Hawaiʻi IPv6 Task Force. “IPv6 needs to be embraced to sustain internet growth and drive continuing global end-to-end innovation. The University of Hawaiʻi should be applauded for its initiative in supporting the advancement of enterprises and ISPs in their community so that Hawaiʻi can participate fully in the future of the global internet,” said Cerf.

More from the University of Hawaii…

IPv6 is the next generation Internet Protocol that will open up infinitely more IP addresses than the current protocol, IPv4.

Why should you care?

Because IPv4 is about to run out of available addresses – which means transition to IPv6 is inevitable. You see, when the early pioneers of the Internet first developed IPv4 in 1981, they never imagined the explosive growth of the Web we are witnessing today.

More from TMCNet…

Hurricane Electric, the world’s leading IPv6-native Internet backbone and colocation provider, today announced that it is the first network in the world to connect to over 600 IPv6 networks, doubling its IPv6 network size in less than a year.

The majority of Internet traffic today is composed of IPv4 transmissions, but the IPv4 protocol’s 32-bit address will soon be overwhelmed by the rapidly growing number of Internet-connected devices.

More from Earth Times…

Google plans to upgrade its YouTube video streaming Web site to provide support for IPv6, a long-anticipated upgrade to the Internet’s main communications protocol.

Google already supports IPv6 with its Search, Alerts, Docs, Finance, Gmail, Health, iGoogle, News, Reader, Picasa, Maps and Wave products.

More from Network World…

NTT America, a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) and a Tier-1 global IP network services provider, recently announced support of its ongoing IPv6 initiative with a gold sponsorship of the first annual IPv6 technology conference hosted by The Texas IPv6 Task Force at The Planet offices in Houston, Texas, November 3-4, 2009.

While the expected depletion of IPv4 addresses and U.S. government mandates were the initial motivation for interest in IPv6, other applications, such as IPTV, better security features, and the growth in the number and types of devices with Internet access are leading to growth in IPv6 adoption.

More from TMCNet…

With just over 10% of IPv4 address space left, the RIPE NCC launches How to Act Now – a guide to making IPv6 deployment simple.

The first ever resource of its kind, How to Act Now provides large and small business and government users with the information necessary to successfully deploy IPv6 in their networks.

Amsterdam, 16th November 2009 – The RIPE NCC, the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia today launches How to Act Now, a resource to help business and government representatives plan and execute IPv6 deployment. This is the first tool of its kind to focus on deploying IPv6 in a real-world, business environment.

How to Act Now includes expert advice, video clips, and hints and tips on all aspects of planning and implementing IPv6 within your network, no matter how large or small. The content addresses the questions and challenges faced by business and technical representatives from large enterprises, small businesses, ISPs and government organisations when adopting IPv6.

IPv6 (Internet Protocol version six) is the latest version of the Internet addressing protocol. All devices connected to the Internet need an IP address in order to connect to other devices in the network. The majority of the Internet is currently run on IPv4, but only about ten per cent of the address space now remains unallocated. Adoption of IPv6 is vital to enable new users and devices to connect to the Internet.

Organisations that delay IPv6 adoption may face increased costs due to poor procurement planning and rushed deployment. Failure to ensure that all devices and networks are IPv6 compatible could lead to problems communicating with other Internet users and inhibit access to online content and services.

“With most estimates putting IPv4 exhaustion only two years away, at best, it is clear that concerted action on IPv6 deployment is necessary to ensure the stability of the Internet and its continued growth,” comments Axel Pawlik, Managing Director of the RIPE NCC. “Failure to deploy IPv6 ahead of the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses is one of the biggest threats facing the Internet today.”

“With How to Act Now, the RIPE NCC aims to help all organisations, from governments and vendors to ISPs and telcos, to put the adoption and integration of IPv6 at the top of their technology agenda. Deployment of new technology takes time, and as the point of IPv4 exhaustion looms ever closer, time will be the one luxury that we as an industry no longer have.”

How to Act Now will be hosted on IPv6 Act Now, the website operated by the RIPE NCC aimed at raising awareness of IPv4 exhaustion and encouraging IPv6 adoption. One of the world’s five RIRs, the RIPE NCC launched the site in May 2009 as a resource directory for all stakeholders to aid the deployment of IPv6.

After a slow start, New Zealand is poised to accelerate implementation of the next generation Internet protocol, IPv6, with the formation of the New Zealand IPv6 Task Force.

The task force will assume and expand on the work of the NZ IPv6 Steering Group, an across-industry group convened by independent consultant Dr Murray Milner – who has been appointed convenor of the task force – and supported by the Ministry of Economic Development and InternetNZ.

More from iTWire…

The RIPE NCC has published an analysis of trends in IPv6 “tunneling” (IPv6 traffic transiting across IPv4 connections) in the Internet over the past five years. The results give some promising indications for the deployment of IPv6 in the global Internet.

For details, see RIPE Labs…

The first Itojun Service Award has been presented to Lorenzo Colitti and Erik Kline of Google for their outstanding contributions to the development and deployment of IPv6, in particular for their sustained efforts to make significant commercial content available over IPv6. The award was presented on 10 November 2009 at IETF 76 in Hiroshima by Itojun’s mother. Lorenzo and Erik were recognised for their step-by-step approach to get IPv6 running which resulted in the launch of ipv6.google.com at IETF71 in March 2008.

More from RIPE Labs…

The Mayans had foresight that 2012 is going to be an epochal year. Now whether you agree the world is going to end or carry on is up to you. However what we do know is that the telecom skin encircling the planet, aka the Internet, will be suffering if we do not act now.

More from Wireless Sys-Con…