ipv6: the new internet protocol

Running Head: IPV6: THE NEW INTERNET PROTOCOL 1

IPv6: The New Internet Protocol

Teresa J. Rothaar

Wilmington University

IPV6: THE NEW INTERNET PROTOCOL 2

IPv6: The New Internet Protocol

IPv6 has not yet impacted me, and since I’ve been working for myself for the better part

of the last decade, I don’t have an employer for it to impact. Before taking this class, I had not

even heard of IPv6. I discovered there are several sites online that allow users to test their

machines for IPv6 readiness. The results of my test can be seen in Figure 1. Unfortunately, my

machine and ISP are not IPv6 ready. This is not a problem right now, but it will ultimately

become one once IPv6 is widely implemented, as I will not be able to access IPv6-only sites.

Figure 1. Test results from test-ipv6.com.

The Benefits of IPv6

When most people think of IPv6, the first benefit of IPv6 that comes to mind are all the

extra addresses the protocol will free up. Just as the proliferation of mobile devices began

exhausting telephone area codes in the 1990’s, IPv4 addresses are all but exhausted today. In

fact, Ericsson did a study in 2012 predicting that, by 2017, the number of mobile devices would

be greater than the world’s population (Tsukayama, 2012).


Certainly, IP address exhaustion was the primary driving force behind IPv6, but other

benefits of the new protocol include more efficient routing because of reduced routing table size;

more efficient packet processing thanks to a simplified packet header; directed data flows

(multicast rather than broadcast); simplified network configuration due to address auto

configuration; support for new services due to the elimination of Network Address Translation;

and better security due to IPSec, a confidentiality, authentication and data integrity protocol suite

which is hardwired into IPv6 (Network Computing, 2011).

Why has IPv6 Implementation Been so Slow?

Despite “World IPv6 Launch” having taken place in 2012 (Tsukayama), IPv6

implementation has moved at a snail’s pace; most ISP’s are not yet equipped to provide IPv6

service to residential customers (Test IPv6). The main reason IPv6 hasn’t been widely

implemented is the same reason credit card “chip” technology hasn’t: money. When IPv6 was

designed, it was decided to not make IPv6 technology backward-compatible with IPv4,

ostensibly because of the new features included with IPv6. However, this means that, in order to

upgrade to IPv6, organizations must upgrade their entire hardware infrastructure. Capital

investments are something that organizations are always loath to take on unless the need is

immediate and the returns are clear; right now, neither of these scenarios is true when it comes to

IPv6. IPv4 is working just fine for most organizations right now, especially since workarounds,

like NAT, which allows multiple devices to use the same IP address, are available (Caldwell,

2014). Since all devices in my home have the same IP address, it appears that my own ISP,

Verizon FiOS, uses NAT.

Worse yet, no one really knows how much IPv6 implementation will actually cost. In

2003, NIST estimated the cost to be $25 billion over 25 years (Conrad, 2011). However, another


report, released in 2005 by the IPv6 Summit and Juniper Networks, estimated $75 billion for the

U.S. federal government alone (Kerner, 2011), and an FAQ from the Internet Society (n.d.)

provides only a vague answer: “Since network needs and businesses differ, IPv6 transition

strategies and related costs will … vary between organisations.” The best estimate (although still

vague) seems to have come from Robert Beckstrom, former CEO of ICANN, who in 2011 told

Enterprise Networking Planet, “We're talking about billions of dollars here globally, [but] we're

not talking trillions of dollars.”

Conclusion

Despite the daunting task of upgrading billions of dollars worth of equipment, IPv6

implementation plods along. The year 2014 saw major growth in IPv6 implementation among

major mobile and broadband ISP’s: Verizon Wireless’ deployment surged by 64%, T-Mobile by

49%, and Comcast by 38% (Coffeen, 2015). See Appendix A for charts, courtesy of Infoblox.

IPv6 is not going away. It is estimated that Google’s worldwide IPv6 traffic will reach

50% by the end of 2017 (Coffeen). The time is fast approaching when organizations will no

longer be able to ignore IPv6 and/or depend on Band-Aid solutions such as NAT. Any

organization that does not have an IPv6 implementation plan needs to put one together right now.


References

Caldwell, G. (2014, August 13). Why Is the Transition To IPv6 Taking So Long? TeamARIN.

Retrieved from http://teamarin.net/2014/08/13/transition- ipv6-taking-long/

Coffeen, T. (2015, February 1). IT Managers: Get Ready to Explain Your IPv6 Strategy in 2015.

Infoblox. Retrieved from https://community.infoblox.com/blogs/2015/02/01/it-managers-

get-ready-explain-your-ipv6-strategy-2015

Conrad, D. (2011, November 6). Time To Embrace IPv6, Not To Run From It. Forbes. Retrieved

from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2011/11/06/time-to-embrace-ipv6-not-to-

run-from-it/

Internet Society. (n.d.). IPv6 Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from

http://www.internetsociety.org/ipv6-frequently-asked-questions

Kerner, S.M. (2011, February 4). The IPv6 Transition: How Much Will It Cost? Enterprise

Networking Planet. Retrieved from

http://www.enterprisenetworkingplanet.com/news/article.php/11849_3923656_2/The-

IPv6-Transition-How-Much-Will-It-Cost.htm

Network Computing. (2011, June 8). Six Benefits of IPv6. Retrieved from

http://www.networkcomputing.com/networking/six-benefits-of-ipv6/d/d- id/1232791?

Test IPv6 (n.d.). Test Your IPv6 Connectivity. Retrieved from http://test- ipv6.com/

Tsukayama, H. (2012, June 6). What is IPv6, and why does it matter? The Washington Post.

Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/what- is- ipv6-and-

why-does-it-matter/2012/06/06/gJQAbClTIV_story.html


Appendix A IPv6 Deployment Charts for Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, and Comcast in 2014

Courtesy of Infoblox