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IPv6 is here

apnic.net

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Re: IPv6 is here

#11

Post by pyre »

iloveponies wrote: post #8
tptacek wrote: post #6

IPv6 is in no sense here. The fiat allocators can exhaust their address space completely and the Internet will continue to function indefinitely; it will simply become more expensive (first marginally, and then significantly) to hold a static address. There are deep problems with universal deployment of IPv6 far beyond simply getting people to throw a switch; the number of popular software packages that will malfunct…

The internet can only continue to function "indefinitely" as you so put it unless there are no further end points created or demand comes to a grinding halt by users, servers, anything with a public facing IP address. However, that's not the case and many new devices are requiring public facing addresses, and RIR's typically do not give out new blocks until ~3/4 or more (ARIN requires 80%) of the last block they were…

I think that getting home users to upgrade their home routers is easier than getting all of the various software packages out there upgraded to work with IPv6. Getting ISPs to upgrade expensive hardware is another issue...

Re: IPv6 is here

#12

Post by StavrosK »

As I understand it, this is the last few IPv4 blocks being handed out. This leads people to conclude that IPv6 is here? If anything, it seems to me that it's "IPv4 is gone", and we need to take steps to ensure that that wasn't the last thing we had.

Re: IPv6 is here

#13

Post by iloveponies »

pyre wrote: post #11
iloveponies wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The internet can only continue to function "indefinitely" as you so put it unless there are no further end points created or demand comes to a grinding halt by users, servers, anything with a public facing IP address. However, that's not the case and many new devices are requiring public facing addresses, and RIR's typically do not give out new blocks until ~3/4 or more (ARIN requires 80%) of the last block they were…

I think that getting home users to upgrade their home routers is easier than getting all of the various software packages out there upgraded to work with IPv6. Getting ISPs to upgrade expensive hardware is another issue...

Which software packages are you talking about, specifically? I seldom encounter libraries or packages that entirely do not support IPv6 (except for MySQL). At the very most it's a configuration flag or compile option to switch it on, if it's not on by default. I'm also curious as to how easy you'll find these homes with a myriad of routers either ISP supplied or third party, and the case you have to convince them that the little box they had needs to be upgraded with firmware or replaced entirely.

The other thing to note is that IPv4 won't just be left in the dust, it'll have to be transitioned - the immediate future at least won't be entirely IPv6, and the world will have a bit of time where dual stack is inevitable for parts.

Re: IPv6 is here

#14

Post by pyre »

iloveponies wrote: post #13
pyre wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that getting home users to upgrade their home routers is easier than getting all of the various software packages out there upgraded to work with IPv6. Getting ISPs to upgrade expensive hardware is another issue...

Which software packages are you talking about, specifically? I seldom encounter libraries or packages that entirely do not support IPv6 (except for MySQL). At the very most it's a configuration flag or compile option to switch it on, if it's not on by default. I'm also curious as to how easy you'll find these homes with a myriad of routers either ISP supplied or third party, and the case you have to convince them tha…

If cable-companies can figure-out how to transition users from their analog cable boxes to the digital ones, I'm sure ISPs can figure out how to transition their customers to IPv6-capable routers. It should be dead-simple for the ISP-leased routers, but for people with their own routers, it's still an ISP-level issue. They just need to tell their new customers that they need an IPv6 capable router, and to figure out a way to transition existing customers that own their routers.

Re: IPv6 is here

#15

Post by kitchen »

chair6 wrote: post #5

Here, yes, but not particularly wide-spread and slowly becoming more necessary. A little tool I built last week .. is your site IPv6 ready? http://ready.chair6.net

I like it. You should also add checks for ipv6 glue records. I advertise ipv6 dns servers but I do not yet have glue, so you still need to connect to my dns servers over ipv4. According to your tool I just have to convince google to add AAAA records to their MX targets and I'm set, but I'm not :)

Re: IPv6 is here

#16

Post by jedsmith »

This needs a better headline, given the gravity of the announcement. IPv6 is by no means here, and really has nothing to do with this news item. To me, "IPv6 is here" says absolutely nothing about the real news here - APNIC having received two /8s (and one forthcoming), making them the recipient of three out of seven of the remaining /8s.

The gravity of this announcement is that we are now in the Exhaustion Phase of the ICANN policy on IPv4 depletion: http://www.icann.org/en/general/allocation-remaining-ipv4-sp...

If anything, it means we need to boogie on IPv6 now, but that's not new (and is only tangentially related to the announcement).

Re: IPv6 is here

#17

Post by rbranson »

We are by no means out of IPv4 addresses. The next step is that all of the entities who needlessly snapped up /8 space early on and sat on it for so long will be selling it off. The list includes GE, Xerox, IBM, HP, Apple, MIT, Ford, Halliburton, Prudential Insurance, Bell-Northern, Merck, Eli Lilly, the DoD/military (who has 13), USPS, and CSC. Just half of this space is 234m IPv4 addresses.

Re: IPv6 is here

#18

Post by steadicat »

Is nobody else afraid that instead of IPv6 we're now going to get more and more layers of NAT?

Sure, for us geeks that's totally unthinkable... no servers, no P2P?!? But most users, who are content with just web & email, will probably never notice the difference.

ISPs will surely find it easier to turn NAT on than to switch to IPv6, and the backlash might be close to nonexistent.

Re: IPv6 is here

#19

Post by wmf »

steadicat wrote: post #18

Is nobody else afraid that instead of IPv6 we're now going to get more and more layers of NAT? Sure, for us geeks that's totally unthinkable... no servers, no P2P?!? But most users, who are content with just web & email, will probably never notice the difference. ISPs will surely find it easier to turn NAT on than to switch to IPv6, and the backlash might be close to nonexistent.

It's not clear that NAT is cheaper than IPv6; huge NAT boxes are pretty expensive.

Re: IPv6 is here

#20

Post by dholowiski »

jedsmith wrote: post #16

This needs a better headline, given the gravity of the announcement. IPv6 is by no means here , and really has nothing to do with this news item. To me, "IPv6 is here" says absolutely nothing about the real news here - APNIC having received two /8s (and one forthcoming), making them the recipient of three out of seven of the remaining /8s. The gravity of this announcement is that we are now in the Exhaustion Phase of…

Definetley, inaccurate headline. The problem is, this is a historic moment, it's just extremely difficult to explain why. This is more lime the beginning of the end. It's going to be long and drawn out.
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