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Friday 9 May 2008, 3:26 PM
IPv6 hype suggests real problems
IPv6 is getting the kind of support that, in my experience, usually goes with a failed standard.
ICANN is trying to scare us into adopting it, saying that "the people using new network applications are using IPv6". As far as I know that isn't true - there are backbones that can do IPv6, and at the moment all our IPv4 traffic is tunnelling through them. That's not the same thing at all.
The Wikipedia entry for IPv6 doesn't show any significant use yet - and believe me, if there were any, IPv6 people would be shouting about it there and elsewhere.
But, for veterans of standards efforts, here's a news story that really suggests doom: Heise reports that the EU Commission is promoting IPv6.
Yes, EU web sites will be available in IPv6 form by 2010. That should really boost traffic on the new protocol... by a minuscule amount. And "twenty-five per cent of all European users should have the opportunity to use IPv6 by the end of 2010" the Commission promises, a bit meaninglessly.
"This is intended to set an example and to be a call, especially to large scale providers, to do the same," says the Heise story. "But it is critical that both the Commission and the US government make it a prerequisite in their calls for tenders for network services and hardware to support IPv6."
I remember when the EU promoted another protocol in similar terms. It was the network industry's greatest and most famous failure: the ISO OSI protocols.
Update: From the comments, I realise this post might come across as an anti-IPv6 troll. To clarify: IPv4 will run out of addresses, and IPv6 is the answer. I'm not clear about the promotion of it at the moment though.
PreviousComments on this post
I think your failing to understand what the "real problem" is Peter !!
The problem is were running out of IP V4 addresses. We've been surviving this long on clever workarounds that appear to be heaven sent, but they wont last forever.
I think what the EU commision are doing here is addressing the issue before the lack of IP V4 addresses causes a massive problem. By doing this and publising this hopefully others will begin to follow suite and relieve some of the strain.
True, there is a real problem here. And IPv6 is the best answer we have.
But how does making a bureaucratic web site available on IPv6 in two years' time help? Whatever happens with IPv6 will have to be backward compatible anyway.
The EU won't be handing back any IPv4 addresses, because the vast majority of people are on IPv4.
IPv6 isn't a "hype" issue at all...
This is the next generation IP, plain and simple. Japan's government mandated way back in 97 that they research and plan to build and deploy v6 networks, and they have. When RIPE announced last year that they too believe that v6 is the future and that Europe would be researching and testing IPv6 that was great for this industry.
We all know this will be a hard transition, there's no doubt. I for one believe that we will begin to see more and more applications that rely on IPv6 to address these complex networks. Everyone is so concentrated on personal computers and the "end user". IPv6 won't be deployed is this fashion. Mobile devices, smartphones and other "always connected" devices with soon be networked using v6. The wireless sensor network industry is praising IPv6. They understand the need for IP to expand and for developers to be given the chance to innovate.
There's only 16% of the IPv4 address pool remaining. When do you think would be a good time to start seriously researching IPv6 and begin showing the world (Europe is this case) the power of this unprecedented address space ?
For more info on how IPv6 is gaining ground in advanced technological areas see our website.
IPv6.com
This comment has been deleted at the users request
Thanks Defyant - those are good points.
I still think there is some confusion in the way it's being promoted at the moment. I don't understand how an IPv6 version of EU websites designed for "end users" will help. As you say, IPv6 won't be deployed that way.
You say that mobile devices will be networked with IP6 . Presumably they can still access IPv4 sites, perhaps with services provided by the operator, otherwise who would buy such a device?
Thanks for the reminder about www.ipv6.com - there's a lot more than when I looked, a few years back.
We do understand that IPv4 addresses will eventually run out. That is a given, and IPv6 is the answer. It's time to look into the actual deployment and use of the protocol.
However, it is a given that IPv4 will eventually run out, and IPv6.com does have lots of information about ways the new protocol is being implemented
I think its more of an attempt to get other organizations to start using it. Leading by example.
Take windows Vista it supports both V4 and V6 and i assume that would be the case during the transition.
What i really dont get is how its suggestes real problems.
Operators are aware that they need to start planning for the future. Transition mechanisms whether it be 6-4, ISATAP or the desired method Dual Stack would be implemented in mobile devices but rather at the core not the edge. I agree that the industry should communicate in an effective manner to discuss these transitional issues.
A few years ago (2001-2003) there was a lot of marketing hype over IPv6 and this probably didn't help our cause. But we believe that now and over the next few years "the smoked glasses" are coming off and the real issues and benefits for that matter are starting to come to light. We don't have to "sell" IPv6 nowadays like others had to in the past. Operators have known about v6 and are researching how they can incorporate this new technology into their existing infrastructure.
This transition is complex and getting the general public to understand that it will begin at the core and move to the edge will take time (2009-2012). Users are more savvy than in the beginning of the internet and can appreciate that their internet is running low on addresses. Online communities have begun to question the ones who give us access. We should be asking them what their IPv6 plans are even if it's not immediate. We need to plan and take international business into consideration. Anyone with relationships in China, Japan, India should be researching how this will affect the core of their network.
Thanks
IPv6.com
