IPv6 Act Now

To what extent is the IPv6 Internet polluted by “background radiation”?

In earlier work we set up a number of “black hole” experiments in the Internet, where traffic can enter the experimental setup, but the setup generates no packets in response. All received packets are recorded. So far we’ve used this setup to test a number of empty address blocks that have been allocated to APNIC in recent months, including 1.0.0.0/8, 14.0.0.0 and 223.0.0.0/8.

It’s clear that these days the IPv4 Internet is now heavily polluted with various scanners and probes that attempt to detect the presence of vulnerable systems. This traffic is “dark” traffic in that it exists irrespective of whether it solicits a response from a remote system or not. The average level of dark traffic in the IPv4 Internet is an average of around 20kbps per /16, or the equivalent of a single incoming packet per address every 50 minutes.

More from Potaroo…

China Telecom has launched pilot projects for Internet Protocol v6 (IPv6) in four provinces, looking to better understand the Internet addressing protocol as it applies to varied industries, such as crop monitoring in greenhouses and property management networks.

More from Information Week…

The Internet will run out of Internet addresses in about 1 year’s time, we were told today by John Curran, President and CEO of the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN). The same thing was also stated recently by Vint Cerf, Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist.

More from ReadWriteWeb…

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.

More from TMCNet…

The RIPE NCC has posted a second article on IPv6 “ripeness” on the RIPE Labs website. Following on from the initial study (which focused on LIR’s IPv6 readiness by country), the new article looks at the IPv6 readiness of LIRs in the RIPE NCC service region, based on age, size and industry sector.

Read more on RIPE Labs…

John Curran has a message for ISPs: Don’t expect to be bailed out if you haven’t already started the upgrade to IPv6.

Curran, CEO at the American Registry for Internet Numbers, told an audience at this week’s FutureNet conference that the next 18 months will represent a “Judgment Day” for ISPs that still think they can get by through improving the efficiency of their IPv4 address use. The bottom line, Curran said, is that there simply won’t be anymore IPv4 addresses in a year and a half.

More from Network World…

Time is running out for the IPv6 address protocol to be finalised, with reports that the current IPv4 system could release its last remaining batch of new addresses as soon as September next year.

According to the latest estimates, there are only around 300 million IPv4 addresses still available, and they’re being used up faster than ever thanks to the explosion of web-enabled mobile devices such as smartphones. At current rates, claims a report by the BBC, the last batch of addresses will have to be released by 9 September, 2011.

More from IT Pro…

The last remaining stocks disappear from the shelves more quickly than ever before . . . IPv4 addresses that is.

As the ARIN met in Toronto in April, an inordinate amount of time was spent yet again debating proposals on how to handle the dwindling stock of IPv4 addresses. I get the distinct impression that some people will still be tabling proposals and discuss the issue long after the last IPv4 block has been allocated by IANA and even the RIR’s themselves.

More from Circle ID…

The internet is running out of big blocks of addresses to give out! IP addresses define the route data takes when it travels through the net and reaches the right person at the right time. Experts estimate that 9 September 2011 is the day when the last of these addresses will be given out for use.

More from The Buzz Blog…

Sahara Net will host the sixth meeting of the Middle East Network Operators Group (MENOG 6) from 10-14 April 2010 in the Riyadh Sheraton Hotel, Saudi Arabia. MENOG 6 is supported by the RIPE NCC, the Regional Internet Registry for Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia.

MENOG is a forum that brings together businesses, network operators and the technical community to discuss critical Internet issues affecting the Middle East region. The five-day event is an opportunity to exchange ideas, share best practices and identify opportunities for regional cooperation.

One of the central topics to be discussed at MENOG 6 is the depletion of IPv4 addresses. There is now less than 10 percent of global pool of IPv4 addresses available, highlighting the need for network operators and other organisations to accelerate the adoption of the next generation of IP addressing, IPv6.

Kais Alessa, engineer and Operations Manager at Sahara Net and a member of the Executive Committee of MENOG, says: “Attending a MENOG meeting helps you keep up-to-date with the latest technological advancements in this fast-moving sector. MENOG and its counterparts in North America (NANOG) and Southern Asia (SANOG) play an important role in supporting the growth and development of regional networks.”

Axel Pawlik, Managing Director of the RIPE NCC, comments: “Ensuring a sustainable growth of networks in the Middle East helps protect economic growth in the region. Close collaboration in the Internet community and regional initiatives such as MENOG 6 help raise awareness of the importance of IPv6 adoption and its role in safeguarding the global Internet economy.”

The agenda for MENOG 6 includes presentations, tutorials and workshops on IPv6, routing and the Domain Name System (DNS), which will be presented by international experts. The meeting is open to anyone with an interest in the Internet and networking. Attendance costs $50.

For further information, go to:
http://www.menog.net/meetings/menog6/