IPv6 Act Now

Today, the standard methods for moving the network/host address boundary are variable-length subnet masking (VLSM) for host addressing and routing inside a routing domain, and classless interdomain routing (CIDR) for routing between routing domains. (We’ll talk more about routing domains later in this book. For now, think of a routing domain as an ISP’s collection of routers.) And although treated separately here for introductory reasons, it is important to realize that VLSM is the fundamental mechanism of CIDR.

CIDR (defined in RFC 1519) and VLSM (defined in RFC 1860) address more general issues than simple subnetting. We’ve been looking at addresses from the host perspective in this chapter so far. Let’s discuss CIDR from the router perspective.

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Cisco today announced that the Conseil Régional de Basse-Normandie (CRBN) has deployed Cisco Unified Communications Manager, running the new version of Internet Protocol (IPv6), to simplify its communications infrastructure. The deployments will facilitate the implementation of new IPv6-based collaboration applications and services and help improve operational efficiency. The new system will operate with the council’s VIKMAN research and education network, which uses the IPv6 protocol to provide a high-speed Internet connection between all of the region’s research and training sites. CRBN is one of the first councils to deploy the latest version of Cisco Unified Communications Manager, running IPv6.

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Every device directly connected to the Internet needs an IP address. There are two versions: IP version 4, better known as IPv4, and IP version 6, aka IPv6. IPv4, the current version, holds 4,294,967,296 addresses, and about 92 percent of them have already been distributed. IPv6, the newer version, holds 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 addresses.

The issue is simple: IPv4 addresses are running out, and fast. The solution to the address depletion is IPv6. This seemingly endless number of addresses holds the future of the Internet, but it requires companies that use and distribute IP addresses to adapt their networks and systems to use IPv6.

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Gert Döring, Co-Chair of the RIPE Address Policy Working Group, has been awarded the “IPv6 Ideenwettbewerb” from the Hasso-Plattner-Institut for his work on the OpenVPN software in Point-to-Multipoint-Mode, which facilitates the use of IPv6 addresses in dual-stack networks.

More on Heise Online… [in German]

With reports and rumors of a big “internet crunch” circulating, the Department of Defense is looking ahead to discern how it can take advantage of more advanced web protocols to enhance its mission.

Kris Strance, the chief of internet protocol for the department, said today in a “DoDLive” Bloggers Roundtable that the crunch – the potential loss of available address space for devices to connect to internet networks – likely won’t affect the Defense Department. But upgrading from internet protocol version four (IPv4) to version six (IPv6), he said, will allow for better network mobility and allow certain groups within the Defense Department to expedite their missions.

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Hurricane Electric, an Internet backbone and IPv6 service provider, decided the best path to satisfy the ongoing growth of IPv6 services in the Phoenix, Ariz. market would be through a partnership with colocation provider Telx.

By establishing a connection at Telx’s Phoenix facility, Hurricane Electric said it will be able to improve fault tolerance, load balancing and congestion management infrastructure capabilities for the delivery of next-generation IP access services. Another side benefit of connecting into Telx’s facility is that could bring Hurricane Electric more business as Telx’s Global Marketplace of customers will be able to peer with Hurricane Electric’s Internet backbone.

More from Fierce Telecom…

Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre chief scientist Geoff Huston has sought to put in perspective reports that available IPv4 addresses could be exhausted in six months– but says that ISPs must nevertheless begin migration plans immediately.

IPv4 addresses are doled out from a rapidly dwindling pool by the Internet Assigned Number Authority to Regional Internet Registries such as APNIC, which then allocate them within their respective regions. While previous estimates have suggested that the global pool could be exhausted around the middle of next year, American Registry for Internet Numbers CIO Richard Jimmerson has warned that the rapid pace of address uptake has made it hard for calculations to stay current, sparking reports that IPv4 addresses could be gone by year’s end.

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As the remaining pool of IPv4 addresses dwindles (only 623 million are left!), it turns out that the remaining address space isn’t exactly beachfront property. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) currently has 16 blocks of 16.8 million IPv4 addresses left—out of a total of 221 usable such blocks.

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We have 17 more months until what John Curran, CEO and president at ARIN (American Registry for Internet Numbers), calls, “Judgement Day.” That’s when we’re expected to run out of Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses.

What this means for vendors and partners in the IT community is that they’ll need to ensure that end-user customers can interact and communicate with the entire Internet, which will be built around the new Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) standard because we’re rapidly running out of IP addresses, the unique numeric identifiers that computers use to talk to each other and connect to the Internet.

More from ITBusiness.ca…

The remaining pool of unallocated IPv4 addresses could be depleted as early as December due to unprecedented levels of broadband and wireless adoption in the Asia Pacific region, experts say.

The acceleration of IPv4 address depletion is putting more pressure on network operators to migrate to IPv6, the long-anticipated upgrade to IPv4, the Internet’s main communications protocol.

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