Industry Must Tackle IPv4 Depletion

Is IP version 6 ready?

Pawlik said, although IPv4 depletion looms large, the organisations responsible for administering to the internet have been making preparations for some time: “We knew we would have to adopt new technology to get over that, and IPv6 has been around since 2000.”

With IPv6, the host identifier can only have a fixed segment size of 64 bits and smaller subnets are never allocated to end users. “But unfortunately, our statistics are telling us that adoption of IPv6 isn’t about to happen. Engineers in the community understand that and are working to produce technology that can be integrated within modern routers that can understand IPv6 addresses and easily switch between the protocols. But this effort on the part of organisations and their engineers costs money. And what organisations are asking is, ‘where’s the business case?’

Do it now – don’t wait

#“These organisations think they are safe [from IPv4 depletion] today, tomorrow and the next,” he continued. “There won’t be a straight switch from one to the other, so they can always do it next week or next year. But what I often hear is, ‘why put our profits at risk?’ And the engineers are also fighting with this attitude.

This is why we’re telling these organisations that there is going to be a big problem if we don’t start doing something about it now. We’re getting out there to preach the benefits of IPv6, convert the world and promote a new website, www.ipv6actnow.org, which argues how it’s better and cheaper to do the switch now and be prepared for it now, rather than later. RIPE NCC received big IPv6 blocks two years ago, yet only 1 percent of this space is currently active,” Pawlik said.

He warned that interim measures would only add complexity: “To dampen the need for fresh IP addresses with scarce IPv4 resources, we’ve seen new resources springing up. It may be we could transfer spare IPv4 to those with a current need when they become available. And some say this will give rise to a new market. But others argue there shouldn’t be a market like this, with the availability of IPv6 addresses.”

“The fact is though, if there are those that need this kind of resource, they will pay for it. And there are indications this is happening in somewhat of a ‘grey’ market, but I don’t see why. I’m sure mass deployment of IPv6 will happen, but if you choose to ignore it, there is a danger of running the risk of being at the mercy of unknown market forces.”

Conclusion – it’s time CEOs got it

Pawlik concluded: “Now is the time for outreach, education and capacity building. There are many organisations, like the ITU [International Telecommunication Union], who are also prescribing integration of IPv6-ready technology at the socket layer. And all the developing nations will be able to take advantage of having only IPv6 addresses. In addition, the ISPs are very much our allies on this. But I think it’s in the wider industry, among CEOs, CIOs and not engineers, that should be taking this issue on a little bit more seriously.”