Every web site in the world has an IP address, which is obvious to anyone who has worked in any IT capacity. Right now everything (with little exception) uses the Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) as I'm sure you know. This provides nearly 18 million network addresses, and many more are needed. For anyone who doesn't know, your domain name (www.downloadsquad.com) is actually an alias pointing at an actual Internet address (IP) that looks more like 255.255.255.255, that is, under IP version 4. The 32-bit addresses we know today will go away eventually, and v4 will give way to
IPv6, which uses 128-bit addresses which is a few more addresses. My personal feeling is that the world will be more complicated mostly for network administrators, and not much harder for power users. When IPv6 hits us in the coming years, the world of networking will be much different. How will this affect your job, your play, your photo collection? Do you think it will have a big impact or just another phase of the Internet's evolution? So what do you think? Is IPv6 worth it, what have you heard about it, and do you think the whole idea will help or hurt the Internet in general?
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The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
l0ne said 4:36PM on 10-30-2006
Once IPv6 hits proper, we're going to lose all this NAT and private address nonsense, which strikes me as a great incentive and a headache-saver (à la Bonjour. Oh, my little home network, where would you be without Bonjour? :D)
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Peter said 4:36PM on 10-30-2006
I think it will be fairly invisible to almost everyone.
At some point you will just run a firmware update on your router that will allow for IPv6 addresses and accept a DHCP address from your upstream provider. IPv4 addresses will continue to be around for ages in case a device hasn't be upgraded or can't recognize a v6 address.
In theory you could continue to use private v4 addresses on your internal/home network and the router will send your public v6 address out onto the routable public network.
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David Jericho said 9:21PM on 10-30-2006
IPv6 is in fact easier for network administrators. CIDR becomes mostly irrelevant, instead simply that for most implementations, you have a /32, a /48, and a /64.
You assign 32 bits to a network. You assign /48 to each router. You assign /64 to each router interface. MAC addresses (with some padding) make up the remaining 64 bits of address. Routers advertise their own existence locally, clients can solicit networks for information.
What this means in practice is that if your physical layer access policy permits a client to connect, address assignment Just-Works(tm).
I am part of a team that runs a global dual stack (IPv4 and IPv6) network, and without a doubt, IPv6 is my preferred solution for inter-networking.
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scott said 6:33PM on 10-30-2006
ipv6 is already loaded in xp, i have enable this feature on my network adapted and had no problems...try it out for yourself...open 'my network places' click view network devices and watch the advanced menu appear, select optional networking components, select networking services and click them all up...after that select properties and use should see a tcp/ip v6 under 'items'
if not search it on microsoft.com and u can find instructions
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David said 10:53PM on 10-30-2006
Usually you don't use DHCP (DHCPv6) under IPV6. More common is using Router Advertisements to configure a network, and let the hosts in the network use their MAC address for the last 48 bits. Windows XP doesnt even support DHCPv6, You have to upgrade to vista for that.
You get assigned the first 48 bits by your upstream provider, you break it up further, usually to 64 or 80 bit.
Example:
I own my own network, 2001:4830:xxxx::
I subnetted this to each facility 2001:4830:xxxx:fac1::
Then each physical interface on my router 2001:4830:xxxx:fac1:1::
Then each host in the network tags on its MAC address
2001:4830:xxxx:fac1:1:00:05:de:ad:be:ef
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Paul said 1:17AM on 10-31-2006
Oh crap...more letters to remember... IPv4 is bad enough.
Ok, I'm finished with my childish complaints. I agree that IPv6 will most likely be an invisible upgrade (at least on the consumer end.) As far as I know, Vista already supports it natively, and other operating systems will most likely implement it very soon. From the sysadmin point of view, it will solve many problems and make things more efficient, but for most people it will be invisible, just another step toward a more advanced and integrated internet.
Except for those long addresses. Ugh.
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Fabian said 4:35AM on 10-31-2006
IPv6 will be, as has been previously said, easier for network admins. The fact that the addresses look intimidatingly long at start is quickly surpassed by the usefulness of IPv6. As has also been said, all this NAT stuff that breaks the 'end-to-end' agreement on which the internet was built will be obsolete.
You will be able to establish end-to-end connections between computers again, if you wish so.
And the naming isn't that bad. Because IPv6 addresses are composed of different parts which were previously IP-address and network mask, it is pretty easy to remember the addresses because as an admin you'll know the first half of the address in question pretty soon, because it stays the same. And with the simplifications that are allowed in IPv6-addresses they really become much less of a burden than first suspected.
Furthermore IPv6 has working mobile-IPv6 implementations. What that means is, that you can have your IP address and keep it while you roam through different networks. Imagine yourself traveling, but as soon as you have internet you will be reachable through your home IP. And even better with mobile IP you can keep that address in realtime. Just think about yourself working on a laptop with wireless lan and you jump from network to network while working, maybe because you are in a car that moves or some such. No problem, mobileIPv6 makes a seemless handover possible, even though you switch networks. It works so well, you don't even loose concurrent connections. You will stay logged in with your Instant Messengers, your VoIP calls may experience a short disturbance, but stay intact. I set up such a system in my university's lab and we used ssh-connections while physically unplugging and replugging the machine into a different network. After a few seconds we could simpy continue working on that connection even though we've switched networks.
I am really looking forward to the IPv6 world. If it comes to pass, that is. Right now the deployment is seemingly stagnant. I really hope that we'll see a fast growing of IPv6 'in the wild' soon. ;-)
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earththing said 1:29AM on 11-05-2006
IPv6 isn't really needed because more and more businesses are switching to private ranges and using NAT. If IPv6 gets rid of NAT then that will be useful and get rid of many connectivitiy problems. Until then IPv4 is fine....
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