IPv4 to IPv6. What you need to know
This article may look a little too geekalicious but it will affect us all very soon so I strongly recommend you have a read and at least get the gist for when you have to take action.
We’re running out of IP addresses. Latest estimates suggest we will run out by the end of this year. Every web device on the planet (Mobile, server, PC, website etc.) has an IP address. I’m sure you’ve heard the term. It’s the physical address of your ‘thing’ on the internet.
For example, www.google.com resolves to 165.165.38.147 which is the physical address of their server I am currently connected to (Note, they have gazillions of servers and therefore gazillions of IP addresses so if you ping them you will get a different IP). Want to know your own IP? Go to www.whatismyip.com
The history
In the early 70’s DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) http://www.darpa.mil/ created and developed the internet. IP (internet protocol) addresses were established which were allocated to individual unique internet plugins (users). A specific address is allocated which is called an IP (Internet Protocol) address. The original range is referred to as IPv4 (version 4). IPv4 uses a 32 bit address field which provides for 4,294,967,296 unique Internet addresses which I’m sure you’ll agree is a fairly large number. However, in 1992 it became apparent that this number as large as it may be is finite and at some point there would be a ‘drying up’ of available addresses, and therefore connections to the internet. A number of very intelligent people got together and with much chin rubbing and pizza ordering developed a solution to this ever increasing and speedily approaching problem. IPv4 has done a valiant and impressive job and continues to do so. But, whilst staying in the building please exit stage left and make space front and centre for the newly created and highly polished range of IPv6!
IPv6 uses a 128 bit address field quadrupling that of IPv4. So a mere 4,294,967,296 from IPv4 becomes three hundred and forty trillion, trillion, trillion with IPv6. Celebrate, break out the champagne, phew, crisis over, well, almost.
The implementation and adoption of IPv6 has not come about as quickly as originally predicted. This is due to the development of technologies such as NAT (network address translation), routers etc, which allowed for singular unique IPv4 addresses to be split thus spreading further and increasing the longevity of IPv4’s journey toward its inevitable exhaustion. If you work in an office, chances are your router is using NAT.
The introduction of this new ‘unlimited’ range comes with a couple of provisos. The technology that we all have bought and love, will need to keep up with the times. Many expect some disruptions as the IPv6 shift takes place. Web sites could be slow or inaccessible, companies could have a harder time setting up new services, Internet service providers could have a hard time keeping up with subscriber growth, and security will have to adapt to the new technology but do not despair, the internet will not collapse!
What the experts say
“If you have a Web site, you are basically going to have some customers coming on wide gauge and on narrow gauge,” Daigle said. “Narrow gauge is going away.” Read more
Joe Klein, a security researcher with Command Information, says many organizations and home users have IPv6 enabled on their systems by default but don’t know it. They also don’t have protection in place to block malicious traffic, since some intrusion detection systems and firewalls aren’t set up to monitor IPv6 traffic, presenting an appealing vector through which outsiders can attack their networks undetected.
“Essentially, we have systems that are wide open to a network,” says Klein, who is a member of an IPv6 task force and will be speaking about the issue tonight at the HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth) conference in New York. “It’s like having wireless on your network without knowing it.” Original article here.
IPv6 Day is on 6th June 2011 http://isoc.org/wp/worldipv6day/
What Happened to IPv5?
In short, IPv5 never became an official protocol. Many years ago, Internet Stream Protocol (ST) was considered IP version five by industry researchers, but ST was abandoned before ever becoming a standard or widely known as IPv5. Work on ST and IPv5 is not expected to ever restart. Original article here.
However, with the number of hosts on the Internet growing steadily, the larger address space will eventually be critical to further expansion. IPv6 also offers better security with IPsec, a part of the basic protocol suiteWith an entirely different address notation, called CIDR, and addresses written in hexadecimal instead of the familiar four octets of decimal numbers used by IPv4, there will be a learning curve for IT administrators. The time to tune up your IPv6 skills is now, before the transition becomes mandatory.
As a business, what do you have to do?
Don’t set your hair on fire just yet. As the year unfolds we will get a clearer picture of what needs to be done and when. Your IT Support will start getting in touch and simple configuration changes will be made to machines and backend IT kit. However, it is your responsibility to understand the changes and how they could affect your business. The good news is that your system is almost definitely IPv6 compliant already. The inevitability of the transition was best indicated by the fact that from Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 & Mac OS X 10.3 (Several years old now) IPv6 was enabled by default. The bad news is that the new system *may* open us up to new types of attack from hackers and malicious users on the web. We just hope the media doesn’t blow it out of all proportion like the Millennium bug fiasco.
Cheap Laptops and Desktops
One of our suppliers Pulsar, is having a sale of graded or seconds stock. All cheap, not much left.
If you’re looking for a cheap desktop, laptop or similar IT equipment call Dave on 01204 794333 or email davida@pulsaronline.co.uk
Desktops
1 x DELL VOSTRO 230MT DC 2.93GHZ 1GB 160GB DVDRW W7HP 3YR NBD £249
1 x DELL VOSTRO 230MT CEL 2.2GHZ 1GB 160GB DVDRW W7HP 3YR NBD £209
2 x DELL OPTIPLEX XE DC 2.6GHZ 2GB 160GB DVDRW W7P 3YR NBD £395
1 x DELL OPTIPLEX 760MT C2D 3.0GHZ 2GB 160GB DVDRW W7P 3YR £415
15 x DELL INSPIRON ZINO AMD X2 1.6GHZ 2GB 320GB DVDRW W7HP 3YR NBD £249
1 x HP 300-1025IT ATH X3 2.2GHz 4GB 500GB DVD 20″ WIF W7HP 1YR £419
1 x HP 300-1015GR ATH X2 2.7GHz 2GB 500GB DVD 20″ WIFI W7HP 1YR £419
1 x HP 300-1210 ATH X2 2.7GHz 4GB 500GB DVDRW 20″ WIFI W7HP 1YR £419
1 x DELL INSPIRON 580 i3 2.93GHZ 4GB 640GB NO MEDIA G310 W7HP 3YR NBD £325
1 x HP DC7900 SFF C2D 2.66GHz 2GB 160GB DVD VB-XP 3YR NBD £349
Laptops
1 x DELL LATITUDE E4300 C2D 2.53GHZ 2GB 256 SSD DVDRW 13.3″ W7P 3YR NBD £699
1 x DELL LATITUDE E4300 C2D 2.4GHZ 2GB 80GB DVDRW 13.3″ W7P 3YR NBD £669
1 x DELL LATITUDE E4300 C2D 2.2GHZ 2GB 80GB NO MEDIA 13.3″ VB-XP 3YR £599
5 x DELL LATITUDE E6400 C2D 2.4GHZ 2GB 160Gb DVDRW 14.1” XPP 3YR NBD £699
1 x DELL LATITUDE E6500 C2D 2.4GHZ 4GB 128SSD DVDRW NVS 15.4″ W7P 3YR £699
1 x DELL LATITUDE E6500 C2D 2.4GHZ 4GB 250GB DVDRW NVS 15.4″ W7P 3YR £649
1 x DELL LATITUDE E6400 C2D 2.66GHZ 2GB 250GB DVDRW 14″ FREEDOS 3YR £625
1 x DELL LATITUDE L2100 ATOM 1.6GHZ 1GB 80GB NO MEDIA 10″ UBUNTU 3YR £229
1 x DELL LATITUDE E6400 C2D 2.4GHZ 3GB 80GB DVDRW W7P 3YR £599
1 x DELL LATITUDE E6400 C2D 2.4GHZ 4GB 160GB CD/DVDRW W7P 3YR £599
1 x DELL LATITUDE E4200 C2D 1.4GHZ 2GB 256GB SSD NOMEDIA 12.1″ W7P 3YR £699
6 x DELL LATITUDE E6400 ATG C2D 2.4GHZ 1GB 160GB DVD 14.1″ VB-XP 3YR £575
9 x DELL PRECISION M4400 C2D 2.4GHZ 2GB 80GB DVDRW 15.6 GF W7P 3YR NBD £599
5 x DELL PRECISION M4400 C2D 2.8GHZ 2GB 160GB DVDRW 15.6 GF W7P 3YR NBD £699
1 x DELL PRECISON M2400 C2D 2.8GHZ 8GB 320GB DVDRW GF W7P 3YR NBD £699
30 x COMPAQ PRESARIO AMD 2.2GHz 2GB 160GB DVDRW ATI 15.6″ W7HP 1YR £299
12 x HP MINI ATOM 1.6GHz 1GB 160GB WIFI BTH WC 10.1″ W7 STARTER 1YR £199
6 x HP G62 i3 2.13GHz 2GB 250GB DVDRW WIFI BTH WC 15.6″ W7HP 1YR £325
All prices +VAT and delivery