2010 will be a bad year for ipv4
We are now at the end of January, but IPv4, the Internet’s core addressing protocol still has a nasty hangover, and all signs are pointing to 2010 being a bad year for the protocol.
Since January 1st, a few key milestones have passed, indicating how urgent the IPv4 rundown problem has become. Firms that rely on internet connectivity must take urgent action in light of the events:
- The allocation last week of two further /8s (blocks of IPv4 addresses with the same number before the first dot) to APNIC mean that for the first time, less than just ten percent of the IPv4 unallocated pool is available to be assigned. At current utilisation rates, this pool will be exhausted in only 600 days. Of course, the internet could stop growing, but all signs point away from this…
- The allocation of 1.0.0.0/8 is the assignment of the first really ‘dirty’ block of addresses, signalling that we really are in the run-down period. Bad network design decisions in the past have meant that networks have ‘borrowed’ the use of addresses starting 1. for ‘internal use only’ or special applications on their network. This means that organisations assigned address space starting ‘1′ may well have partial connectivity even though they are rightfully assigned the space. Examples are the braindead hotspot operators who take addresses like 1.1.1.1 to trigger hotspot logout, but a handful of examples appear across this address range.
- RIPE NCC, the organisation who assign addresses to networks in and around Europe have this month implemented their ‘run down’ policy which will mean that organisations requesting space will only be able to cater for their growth requirements for a very short amount of time. This is to evenly spread the inevitable misery across the ISP community.
RIPE members should thoroughly audit their address space so that they can ensure that their records are accurate, because RIPE are more likely to ensure that address space is assigned to your end users in line with the community’s policies. ISPs and services providers who need help can contact me for further information or specific assistance.
Organisations who rely on internet connectivity for their products should ensure their providers have an IPv6 migration plan in place. Otherwise end-to-end connectivity for your home or office is unlikely to be something you can enjoy looking beyond the runout period. Companies hosting network services, for example a website, should enquire what their host’s IPv6 plans are, and start to enable their services via v6.
There is real traction to ensure v6 support appears in both the hardware and services you need to connect to the internet. It is easier today than before to find help making your services available via v6. The alternatives – patchy connectivity via nested stacks of ipv4 islands, or no more end-to-end connectivity (so that your internet service is a walled garden), have much worse consequencies than learning to roll v6.
Engineers know the facts by now and have no excuse. For more information, see the RIPE NCC’s information site, ipv6actnow.
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