IPv4 addresses are nearly depleted, and the transition to IPv6 is upon us, whether we are ready for it or not. In fact, major organizations including Google™, Facebook® and Yahoo® are among the participants in the first World IPv6 Day in June 2011, and will offer a 24-hour “test drive” of their features only in IPv6.
It has long been thought that IPv6 should be implemented first at the enterprise level. But generally speaking, a large portion of consumers are likely ready for the conversion as well. It is estimated only 0.05 percent of personal Internet users’ computers will be affected. Computers running any modern OS from Windows® XP forward should have no difficulty if their software is up-to-date. There are more problems when it comes to networking, with only 60 percent of consumer cable modems likely to be IPv6 compatible by 2011.
At the enterprise level, there are bigger and more complicated concerns. The three biggest are cost, dealing with the problems of an Internet made up of partially of IPv4 and IPv6, continuity of service and security. Talking to your service providers and vendors will be imperative to make the transition as painless as possible.
Cost of course is almost always the biggest driver in every enterprise decision. Some estimates show the US cost alone for the transition at $75 billion. Training costs for IPv6 will be significant, and so will the necessary investments in new hardware and software. The labor assets required for the switchover are a major concern. Testing systems and updating software, firmware, and in some cases hardware will draw people from other projects. And of course, the transition method itself, whether it is tunneling, dual-stacking, or some other option will also require a serious investment, especially in large firms.
The second issue is that the implementation itself will be bumpy. With the exception of a few enterprises with large amounts of cash and a desire to employ an aggressive, potentially disruptive strategy, most firms will seek solutions that require them to use IPv4 and IPv6 at the same time. The most likely solution for most enterprises will be the dual-stack solution. But the problem with that is that every stack requires an IPv4 address, and the reason for adopting IPv6 to begin with is the scarcity of IPv4 addresses. Tunneling, the other major option, connects IPv6 and IPv4 clouds. However, tunneling is labor intensive because it requires a lot of manual settings and expertise. Regardless of the solution chosen, the constant translation will provide a serious slowdown. Working with your provider will help determine the best option for you.
Of course, with any major switchover, continuity of service is a major issue. Nearly all enterprise functions require the Internet. Outages and slowdowns during the transition are inevitable. Testing, deploying, and troubleshooting the new system will strain your enterprise productivity. Working closely with all vendors and providers is the only way to limit the impact on your workforce.
Finally, there is the issue of security. Ultimately, it is believed IPv6 will be more secure than IPv4. However, due to the lack of knowledge and testing of the protocol, it is believed there will be a brief time when IPv6 will be more vulnerable than your legacy systems. Work with your providers and your compliance experts to select an order for what types of assets you migrate to IPv6 and how it is that you protect them.
Despite all of the obvious cost and hassle, the migration to IPv6 is inevitable. We are simply out of addresses in IPv4, and many world governments are mandating a transition. If you work with all of your stakeholders, however, the disruption can be limited.
For more information, see:
Faster Implementation: The Real Benefit of Cloud Computing?
A Closer Look at Business Continuity Appliances
Why You Should Avoid a Single Vendor IT Strategy
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