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Thoughts on switching to IPv6
Ath:
And other ISP's offer no direct IPv6 access but instead hide that from the consumer by putting up a NAT between their networks and the real world, supplying a local IPv4 only... :down:
Edvard:
We'll probably see a lot of interesting schemes where you're still on IPv4, but are able to access IPv6 HTTP servers through proxies.
-f0dder (April 12, 2011, 10:44 PM)
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You can do that today, with a tunnel broker:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_broker
Can't say there's a huge benefit to it now (it's not like IPv6 comes with a free box of donuts or something...), but when IPv6-only nets start kicking in, you'll want it.
And other ISP's offer no direct IPv6 access but instead hide that from the consumer by putting up a NAT between their networks and the real world, supplying a local IPv4 only... :down:
-Ath (April 13, 2011, 01:56 AM)
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That actually is the way many private intranets would work (for a while anyways) so it wouldn't be a disadvantage unless bandwidth became a problem.
Either way, Tunneling and NAT'ing will likely be the only option for legacy systems running critical services that simply will not be upgradeable, so that may be a healthy chunk of the ISP biz in the future.
I just fear the eventual changeover ends up being a long, messy ride...
40hz:
It's going to be interesting to see what happens to ISPs that hand out free routers (like most of them in the UK). If they suddenly have to provide their whole infrastructure with new routers there will be a lot of bankruptcies but if they don't offer free routers there will either be a massive shift around ISPs by customers looking for a freebie or all ISPs will have to start charging!
-Carol Haynes (April 12, 2011, 07:08 PM)
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Don't know about the UK, but over in the USA I'm guessing the ISP/Telcos will offer free routers - BUT - use that as an excuse to kick you off your unlimited DSL plan if you have one. That's what AT&T did if you took them up on their iPhone4 discount and had unlimited internet on your old contract.
I'm also guessing the new residential routers will have IPv6 only on the WAN side. Or at least initially. Good ol' IPv4/NAT will continue to rule the roost on the LAN side for many more years until the world's governments finally force everything onto IPv6. Which they eventually will. Because once that happens, an IP address can be permanently assigned to people and devices. Just like a social security number or VIN on a motor vehicle - each address is unique and registered. No more anonymity.
At which point it become possible to enforce surveillance and control over all network activity - with only as much privacy as our politicos care to grant us.
(This isn't 'tinfoil hat' stuff BTW. It's already being seriously discussed.) 8)
Ehtyar:
Before all the haters (pot, kettle, black - i know) tire themselves out jumping up and down about how awful change is, please take the opportunity to educate yourselves about this.
Perhaps the best person to explain why IPv6 is necessary is the man credited with the majority of the work involved in developing IPv4 Dr Vinton Cerf (known in many circles as "the father of the Internet"). He spoke recently at linux.conf.au, and discussed many challenges facing the open Internet, including the exhaustion of the IPv4 address space. You can find that talk here. I'd encourage everyone who has an interest in the Internet to seek out videos of other talks he's given on the subject.
There's another, by John Curran, President and CEO of ARIN (The American Registry for Internet Number, the corporation that assigns IP addresses within the United States) given at DEFCON 18 that also explains quite well how IPv6 is going to work. That video can be found here.
For those interested in what adoption will involve, I recommend following Hurricane Electric's "certification" program. It walks you though the main aspects of implementing IPv6 connectivity, and you get a free t-shirt at the end.
In trying to keep this from turning into a flame war I'll leave it to you guys to check out the links above and see if you can wade through the FUD to reach a sensible conclusion.
Ehtyar.
Edvard:
I'm totally with you, Ehtyar.
This change was foreseen and is necessary, and Mssrs Cerf and Curran explain everything very adequately.
However, 40Hz has a point; the plan is to assign everything it's own IP address.
With ~340 Undecillion (2^128) addresses possible, it's feasible to have a separate IP address for everything on the face of the planet and still have plenty left over.
Yes that could possibly mean no more anonymity, but it could also mean anonymizer services would have a lot more ground to play on.
Time will tell...
P.S. Thanks for the links, very informative.
Hehe... I want this on the t-shirt:
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