The Internet is running out of addresses
This does not mean that the Internet will end, just that it has become so popular that a new form of addresses will begin to be implemented. It is important that all organisations are aware of the implications of IPv4 exhaustion and the simple migration to IPv6.
IPv4 exhaustion is not a mythical scenario or marketing hype; it is simply a supply and demand issue with only a certain number of addresses available before they run out.
Please note that this article is only an introduction to IPv6 and the issues your organisation may face when IPv4 becomes exhausted.
What is IPv4?
IPv4 stands for Internet Protocol version 4. It is the essential infrastructure of the web and it is the underlying technology that makes it possible for us to connect our devices to the web.
Whenever a device access the Internet (whether it’s a PC, Mac, smart phone or other device), it is assigned a unique, numerical IP address such as 22.47.227.227.
To send data from one computer to another through the web, a data packet must be transferred across the network containing the IP addresses of both devices.
Without IP addresses, computers are not be able to communicate and send data to each other.
What is IPv6?
IPv6 is Internet Protocol version 6 and is the successor to IPv4. It functions in a similar way to IPv4 in that it provides the unique, numerical IP addresses necessary for Internet-enabled devices to communicate. The major difference is that it can support 2^128 Internet addresses or 340,282,366,920,938,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 addresses as opposed to IPv4 which supported 2^32 or only 4294.97 million addresses.
The Asia Pacific region (of which New Zealand is a part) is the first region in the world to have exhausted their IPv4 allocation. The solution is to initially be aware of the exhaustion and the to be prepared to migrate IPv6 for your organisation computers and related hardware. This can be achieved by talking with your Internet Service Provider (ISP), hardware suppliers and technical staff. It might be as simple as the organisation router that is due to be replaced soon will need to be replaced with an IPv6 compatible router.
Compatible software
Most operating systems support IPv6, including Mac OS X 10.2 and Windows XP SP 1 and later updates.
Consequences of not being ready for IPv6:
- You may find some websites and email addresses are unreachable for you, if they are only on IPv6 and your provider only has IPv4 addresses.
- In some cases, your ISP may use technologies to allow IPv4 customers to reach IPv6 parts of the Internet as an interim solution.
To make sure you will be able to access all parts of the Internet post IPv4 exhaustion, you may want to ask your ISP about their plans to support IPv6 and to ensure that any hardware your organisation updates, supports IPv6.
Other resources
APNIC, the Regional Internet Registry that allocates IP and AS numbers in the Asia Pacific region has detailed and up-to-date information about IPv4 exhaustion and IPv6 migration for individuals and organisations of all sizes: http://www.apnic.net/community/ipv4-exhaustion .
APNIC also have a non-technical video overview of IPv4 exhaustion here: http://www.youtube.com/user/apnicmultimedia#p/a/u/0/TQ3UktpT_D8 .
Vint Cerf the God Father of the Internet discusses his thoughts (technical) at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWJ-htuN4Hk&playnext=1&list=PL7AD1C8724E5A08CB