IPv6 Act Now

IPv6 has been spoken about for quite some time now, but we’ve yet to see it take off as a practical technology. Despite the advantages and flexibility, it has a long way to go before it replaces the current IPv4.We spoke to Shridhar Luthria, Manager, Channel Development, ResellerClub, Directi to understand all the hype and the subsequent implications surrounding IPv6. Luthria shed light on some myths surrounding IPv6, costs and finances involved in implementation of IPv6. Additionally, he spoke on why it matters to us, as individuals and users of the internet – would it mean installing new software or hardware, and would other operating systems allow a smooth adoption?

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For an advanced technology that we all depend upon, it sure seems that the Internet has more than its fair share of problems: spam, viruses, malware, spyware, phishing, worms, trojans, DDoS attacks, hijacks, DNS cache poisoning, botnets, keystroke loggers, etc. We need an entirely new vocabulary just to talk about this stuff. Most of it appears to come out of the blue, forcing the rest of the world to react. But the good news is that there is at least one problem we can do something about in advance. Unfortunately, not everyone has been taking the problem seriously enough and we are about to hit the wall.

I’m talking about the impending exhaustion of IP addresses, IPv4 addresses to be exact. Every computer on the Internet needs access to at least one unique address in order to be connected. Around the dawn of the Internet, 32-bit IPv4 addresses, which allow for 4,294,967,296 different possibilities, seemed like more than enough.

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IPv6 is the long-anticipated upgrade to the Internet’s main communications protocol, which is known as IPv4.

IPv4 uses 32-bit addresses and can support 4.3 billion devices connected directly to the Internet. IPv6, on the other hand, uses 128-bit addresses and supports a virtually unlimited number of devices – 2 to the 128th power.

More from NetworkWorld…

Each spring, the MIS Training Institute hosts InfoSec World, an educational event that brings information security practitioners together to learn from each other. This year, volcanic fallout prevented a few participants from making the trek. But those who attended were treated to detail-rich sessions about today’s biggest security threats.

In his session on IPv6 threats, Dennis Allen, Cyber Training Team Leader at CERT/SEI/CMU, introduced the Internet protocol and address changes that all security professionals will soon need to know.

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Mu Dynamics announced on Monday a test suite for IPv6 that custom generates tests based on the user’s existing IPv4 network traffic rather than from pre-determined, standard test cases.

Early customers include network operators and equipment vendors such as Juniper Networks as well as test labs such as the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Lab.

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As many organizations are starting to recognize the importance of the impending migration to IPv6, it is clear that there is a lack of high-quality inexpensive sources of IPv6 training. One event that you may want to consider attending is the Rocky Mountain IPv6 Summit. It is a low-cost training opportunity to learn from IPv6 industry experts and gain knowledge of IPv6 implementation experiences.

The way that most people learn about IPv6 is via online resources and books. There are many good books on IPv6 basics and some books that cover implementation specifics. Equipment manufacturers also offer online information about how to configure basic IPv6 settings.

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How will we know when IPv4 address space is all used up? And what will happen when that day comes?

The modern Internet has been built using IPv4, which provides for 4.3 billion address, a supply that could run dry within the next two years. Organizations that allocate IP address space like the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN) have attempted to forecast when IPv4 address space will be gone, but it’s not an exact science, and there is no precise date to mark on a calendar.

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Comcast has scheduled for early June the trials of various IPv6 technologies it first announced back in January. The announcements reveal the different status in terms of IPv6 preparedness of various cable industry vendors, including Cisco, Arris, Motorola, Juniper and Netgear.

IPv4 Internet address space is expected to be completely exhausted by the latter half of 2011, forcing a transition to IPv6. In addition to promising address space far beyond the capacity anyone can imagine ever needing (enough to give a permanent IP address to every atom on the face of the earth, by some calculations), IPv6 also has features that should help operators improve QoS and support mobility applications, among other benefits.

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China’s Internet users increased 20 million in the first quarter of this year, hitting the 404 million mark, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on Thursday, the Shanghai Securities News reported.

With the fast increase of Internet users, China’s current Internet protocol (IP) addresses will run out in the next 2 to 3 years, and the country has to speed up the deployment of the new generation IP addresses – IPv6, said Zhu Jun, deputy director of the ministry’s telecom development department.

More from China Daily…

A new report issued by the Number Resource Organization (NRO) has found that demand for both IPv4 and IPv6 address space is continuing to grow. The Internet Number Resource Status Report for the first quarter of 2010 is based on data collected by the five Regional Internet Registries[1] (RIRs) that oversee the allocation of all Internet number resources, and outlines RIR allocation of IP address space (IPv4 and IPv6), as well as AS number assignments.

In the report, the NRO notes that allocations of IPv4 addresses in Q1 have reduced the IANA free pool of IPv4 addresses to 8.5 percent. During the same period, APNIC, the RIR for the Asia Pacific, allocated 1.6 /8s (nearly 27 million IPv4 addresses) to its members, more than any RIR has ever issued in a single quarter.

“The allocation rate of IPv4 addresses continues to increase due to the growing number of devices that require IP addresses – mobile phones, laptops, servers, routers, and more,” said Axel Pawlik, chair of the NRO. “We have also seen many new IP address requests from developing countries, whose populations are coming online more quickly than ever before.”

He also noted that additional allocations in early Q2 have now left only 7.8 percent of IPv4 addresses unallocated.

Key findings of the status report include:

· APNIC issued 1.6 IPv4 /8s in the first quarter of 2010

· APNIC issued 186 IPv6 allocations in the first quarter of 2010 – that is more allocations in three months than it has ever made in any single year

· For only the second time, LACNIC issued more IPv4 address space than ARIN

“The five RIRs saw an increase of nearly 30% in the amount of IPv6 address space allocated to members in 2009, an encouraging sign that more organizations are preparing for the transition,” Pawlik remarked. “With limited IPv4 addresses remaining, deployment of IPv6 is critical to the continued development of the Internet.”

The RIRs, working individually and collectively as the NRO, have actively promoted IPv6 deployment for several years through grassroots activities, speaking opportunities, technical training, conferences, government liaison and media outreach.