ipv6 vs ipv4 in a nutshell - itweb · 2019-06-14 · ipv6 vs ipv4 in a nutshell smart technology...
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STC o�ers IPv6 to its clientinfrastructure and cloud services
IPv6 vs IPv4 In a nutshell
Smart Technology Centre (STC) is one of the first Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in South Africa to roll
out a full production Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) connectivity to its client infrastructure and cloud services
platform.
IPv4, the de facto protocol used by most electronic devices in South
Africa to connect to the internet, has been around for many years and
is essentially running out of IP addresses. “Things have changed rapidly,
and no-one anticipated the explosion in the number of devices
connected to the internet – from cellphones, laptops, tablets, smart TVs,
watches, routers, right down to smart fridges and home automation
systems. The need for a robust communication protocol to manage the
connectivity of these devices to the internet is paramount,” says Morris.
“Major content providers such as Facebook and Google have deployed dual-stack networks for the sake of
continuity, to make their networks scalable and future-proof, as well as to accommodate countries that are
lagging behind on their IPv6 deployment,” explains Morris. “Essentially what this means is that a device using
IPv4 will eventually only be able to access old legacy content with their outdated IP address – and parallel
systems will need to be set up to manage both IPv4 and IPv6 connected devices. Consumers should be
looking at their choice of ISP and migrating to smarter providers that have fully switched to IPv6, since devices
still connected through IPv4 will likely become incompatible. While we don’t foresee IPv4 being phased out in
the immediate future, its shelf-life expiry is approaching.”
“At STC, we believe it is crucial not to adopt a wait-and-see approach but rather to be proactive in raising the standards in the industry and ensuring seamless transitions for our clients in such a way that it does not disrupt their day-to-day operations, functionality, productivity or security,” concludes Morris.
“SEACOM has been IPv6-capable since 2011, when we
launched our IP/MPLS backbone. What is important is
that we have been promoting IPv6 connectivity to the
community and for our customers since we began
o�ering it as part of our IP services. More specifically, IPv6
deployment in consumer environments (such as that
being done by STC in their FTTH deliveries) is where the
majority of the progress toward IPv6 will happen, and
SEACOM is happy to be part of the supporting
infrastructure that enables STC to be able to deliver IPv6
to their consumers,” explains Claes Segelberg, Chief
Technical O�cer at SEACOM, a STC supplier.
According to Statista, the number of internet-connected
devices (Internet of Things) per person worldwide is
expected to reach 6.58 devices per person by 2020,
indicating a total of around 50 billion connected devices
worldwide. That’s an incomprehensible number of unique
IP address configurations. IPv6 provides a more advanced
number and letter sequence, known as hexadecimal, that
provides internet addressing to an almost infinite number
that should theoretically never run out. Switching,
however, is not a simple process. In certain States in the
US, IPv4 connectivity has already been completely phased
out. In terms of IPv6 implementation, Africa and South
Africa are far behind the curve, scoring a compliance of
just 0.63% - hardly registering a blip when you consider
that the US is at 50% and Europe at 30% in terms of being
IPv6-compliant.
“In essence, an IP address provides a unique location system for computers and devices connected to the internet or on networks and then routes this tra�c across the internet. A basic analogy is to
compare it to a number plate, which
identifies where your computer is
from and where it is going across the
internet roadways and what
information needs to be sent to and
from it. We’ve invested in innovation,
best-of-breed equipment and training
to enable us to deploy IPv6 well ahead
of many other ISPs in the country.
Currently, those networks that have
been connected using IPv6 and
dual-stacked with IPv4 are performing
well, with roughly 10% - 25% of our
current internet tra�c,” explains
Richard Morris, Managing Director of
Smart Technology Centre.
Q: What is an internet protocol?
A: Every device that connects to the Internet, such as
smartphones, notebooks, tablets, all require an identifier.
This is a unique identifier, known as an Internet Protocol
(IP) address which is used to identify the particular
hardware device and connect to the Internet, thus
allowing for data to be transferred across the network.
The two most common versions of IP in use today are
Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and Internet Protocol
version 6 (IPv6), both of which come from finite pools of
numbers. IPv4 uses 32 bit for its Internet addresses – in a
nutshell, that means it can support 232IP addresses in
total — around 4.29 billion. It may have sounded like a lot
a few years ago, but the connected age has resulted in
almost all of these being used up.
Q: When do we start panicking?
A: Don’t panic just yet. Although the current addresses have
all been allocated, many of them are still unused and are
available to be re-assigned. However, they are an
increasingly scarce resource and will create a problem for the
web – and you, your work productivity and everything else
that goes with it - in the next few years. Although the
depletion of IPv4 addresses was predicted years ago, the
switch has been painfully slow and only a fraction of the web
has started to switch – notably, South Africa is lagging behind
other countries.
Q: What is IPv6?
A: IPv6 is the sixth revision to the Internet Protocol and
the successor to IPv4. The IPv6 address space is 128-bits
(2128) in size, containing
340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 IPv6
addresses. This should be enough to keep the internet
operational for many, many lifetimes.
Q: Why the hesitation to switch on such a critical issue?
A: Much of this has to do with the fact that running both
IPv4 and IPv6 requires special skills, gateways and parallel
networks to transmit data between the two. To make
the switch, software and routers need to be upgraded to
support a more advanced network – and this requires
time, money and serious skill. Nobody's sure how much
the transition will cost or how long it will take, but that’s
why it’s crucial that we start the switch early, develop the
necessary skills, training and support needed to ensure
that the internet and our critical networks can operate
as usual. The alternatives are too dire to contemplate.
Procrastination will rob us of our most mission-critical
asset if we don’t get this right.