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U.S. DoD Commits To IPv6

babaloo writes "According to this article the U.S. Defense Department wants to move it's entire network to IPv6 by the year 2008. Will this be what pushes at least U.S. based companies and providers to actually convert over?" It's definitely a shot in the arm that IPv6 needs. This seemed to be more of a priority back when NAT was much less prevalent, but it seems we'll eventually find ourselves on IPv6, even if we drag our feet there.

32 of 318 comments (clear)

  1. dupe? by zoloto · · Score: 4, Informative

    Wasn't this covered here:
    http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/06/13 /194120 6&mode=thread

    oh wait, this is /.
    any news is good news!

  2. Sigh... by Andorion · · Score: 3, Redundant

    A simple search for "ipv6" before posting the article would have been nice =)

    Karma-seekers, just go to the original post and repost all insightful comments! :)

    ~Berj

  3. An IP address for.... by ciroknight · · Score: 4, Funny

    .....every second until the day IPv8 goes into effect, not to mention every person alive, every toaster making toast, every toilet still flushing, and every bullet fired. Maybe this is why the DoD wants IPv6... No not for toilets, internet enabled bullets!!

    --
    "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
    1. Re:An IP address for.... by Soko · · Score: 4, Funny

      Clippy: It looks like you're trying to kill Saddam Hussien. Do you want an IP address assigned to each of your bullets so we can track the kill?

      [yes] [no] [sod off before I shoot you, ya nosy paperclip!]

      Soko

      --
      "Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
  4. Standard by RobPiano · · Score: 5, Funny

    Its pretty much a fact that most internet innovations are due to military and pornography pushing early use. IPv6 is definitly going to happen now.

    See history of the internet and streaming media...

    Rob :)

  5. Circular definition, AH! by zapp · · Score: 3, Funny

    IPv6 has enough IP's to identify each unique second until IPv8 is released.
    IPv8 won't be released until all IPv6 addresses are used.
    The longer it takes for IPv8 to be released, the sooner it will happen!

    --
    no comment
  6. Chicken and egg by caluml · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Will this be what pushes at least U.S. based companies and providers to actually convert over?"

    Why would it be? I assume most US based companies and providers don't have many connections to the DOD network :)
    When a: there is a decent amount of IPv6 only content, and b: when the most widely used OS in the world ships with it enabled by default, (ipv6 install doesn't count here) then it might start taking hold. But it's a chicken and egg situation at the moment. That autopr0n guy should switch his site to IPv6 only, and force his viewers to start using IPv6 (or IPv6-over-IPv4) ;)
    Sign yourself up to an IPv6 tunnelbroker today, and get your own n * 2^64 addresses to play with.

    In fact, why isn't Slashdot an IPv6 enabled site?

    1. Re:Chicken and egg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      In fact, why isn't Slashdot an IPv6 enabled site?

      Because we are all hypocrits.

  7. Heavy Sigh by mofochickamo · · Score: 4, Funny
    IPv6 will allow an expansion from the Internet's current limitation of 4 billion addresses (to a new limit of 380,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0, which is a number so great it could supply each person living today with more than 4 billion addresses each).

    Too bad I have to type http://132.122.21.123.155.135.132.152.132.122.221. 123.15.23.32.52 to get to my computer that I don't have a domain name for.

    --
    Honk if you're horny.
    1. Re:Heavy Sigh by caluml · · Score: 4, Informative
      Er, no.

      From ifconfig:
      inet6 addr: fe80::240:93fa:fe43:6f50/64 Scope:Link

      And you're right - DNS will become more invaluable.
      Although you only have to remember your subnet - eg 2001:618:15, and the address you use on that subnet, which is usually something like ::1, or ::2, etc.

  8. IPV6 Costs.... by wo1verin3 · · Score: 3, Funny

    >> U.S. DoD Commits To IPv6

    Washington, DC - June 26, 2003 - Dept. Of Defense in charge of security and defense for the United States Of America will be going over budget on an IPV6 upgrade. The majority of costs will be involved in training staff to count to the number 6. Previous training to count up to 5 was thought to be years ahead of its time since the DOD believes IPV5 would come after IPV4.

  9. Heh by egg+troll · · Score: 4, Funny

    IPV6 is the Hurd of networking protocols!

    --

    C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
    1. Re:Heh by eht · · Score: 4, Funny

      Not really, IPv6 is actually useful.

  10. IPv6 May becomre much MORE needed by zapp · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This seemed to be more of a priority back when NAT was much less prevalent

    Since several states have already banned NAT, and several more are moving in that direction... perhapse IPv6 will be necessary much sooner than we think.

    --
    no comment
  11. Time to learn... by krray · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You know, call me weird or something, but I happen to like NAT and, well, pretty much fully understand IPv4.

    Yeah -- I know how to use a Linux box as a decent router and setup Firewall's as needed, etc.

    The fact that I'm not doing anything SERIOUSLY complex helps:
    - Web servers (port 80 and 443)
    - imaps (port 993)
    - ssh2 (private port with honey-pots all over :)
    - other misc needed ports and tunnels as well.

    ONLY ports I specifically opened up and re-directed are available to the general Internet. Firewalls run internally as well, but many more services (lpr, smb, hell IPX is stilled used/preferred for accounting work)...

    With IPv6 I'm probably going to go the route of:
    1) Ok -- I *basically* understand it, but honestly haven't wrapped my brain around it ... learn it.

    2) Try and get a few IPv6 addresses as needed
    3) Update front end router to use it work with it.
    4) Tunnel it back into my IPv4 network per port as needed. IPv6 NAT if you will...

    I really don't want anything/everything directly connected to the Internet. At anytime. Except the Internet network router. These ISP's selling "Windows DSL modems" where it plugs directly into USB or the Ethernet is NUTS, IMHO. :)

    Once in a blue moon I'll come across a Linux box that has ftp (for example) enabled and there really isn't the want/need for it. Oops, not Firewalled either... Glad it wasn't directly on the 'Net (!)

    Even when the need _has_ arisen to put a box completely on the Internet directly it's been easy enough to setup a 1:1 map on the router... While the video feed was going on I personally would be nmap'ing the box to double check the firewall settings...

    Of course the problem exists because, well, it is TOO easy to get on the Internet. Too many have no clue what they are doing, but they get email (!) Yeah. Those are the ones spreading virus' and not knowing it or have a hacked box spewing spam around the world. Some problems could also become moot with IPv6 in regards to security and accountability...

    !fp

    1. Re:Time to learn... by caluml · · Score: 3, Insightful

      NAT is the spawn of SATAN. Really it is. Get two hosts behind NAT, and they are unable to establish connections between themselves. It's truely horrible. At the moment, I am using a tunnel broker to give my lab IPv6 connectivity ( tunnelled over IPv4, but you wouldn't know it.)
      Because my workstation is behind NAT on IPv4, I have to either VPN in, or SSH to the firewall, and then onto my workstation. With IPv6 however, because I can address my workstation directly, and because I've allowed SSH to it, I can ssh right in through the firewall. It's just better. Abolish NAT.

  12. Damnit! (In the spirit of dupes) by teamhasnoi · · Score: 5, Funny
    I was promised flying cars, why aren't they working on the flying cars?

    IPv6 sounds great but I see that we will need more TLDs and a domain name will be absolutely necessary.

    Frickin' Rainman will be the only one able to remember xxxx.xxxx.xxxx.xxxx.xxxx.xxxx.

    At least the giant corporations that are our new overlords will have to spend some serious $$$ to cover all the new 'name.new tld'. Perhaps after all this is done, they can work on flying cars. 'cause we are like 50+ years behind the times here, people.

    But all that has to take a back seat to hard-to-remember IPv6.

    Here's a plan, why don't we just take the internet away from all the AOLers, the Flash greeting card senders, the 'Great Story! Read this LOLRFLOLRLOL!!!!'ers, Zone Bejewled players and the cheaters at Counter Strike and we'll have enough IPs for all of the elitist bastards that are going to make my toaster talk to me.

    Tell you what. I will trade all my IPs (192.168.x.x) for a friggin' flying car.

    Let's make it happen. I'll even have a bumper sticker, "IPv6, but my doctor says I'll be fine!" with a smiley!

    Gimme my flying car.

  13. Re:Recap by jared_hanson · · Score: 5, Informative

    Won't we need IPv7 by then?

    No, we will not. The current IPv4 has approximately 4,300,000,000 (4.3 x 10^9) total addresses in its address space. IPv6, however, has 3.4 x 10^38 available addresses.

    To quote from the WIDE FAQ: "If the address space of IPv4 is compared to 1 millimeter, the address space of IPv6 would be 80 times the diameter of the galactic system."

    It is simply not feasible that we will ever need anything more than IPv6.

    --
    -- Fighting mediocrity one bad post at a time.
  14. Re:IPv6.... by JoeBuck · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You want to have vastly more addresses than can ever be used; this will kill scanning attacks by black hats and spammers who just try every network address looking for a victim. Anyone scanning thousands of bogus addresses for every real one will trigger all kinds of alarms.

  15. More than one benefit. by davidu · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2460.html
    IPv6 has many improvements over IPv4 other than just more address space.
    • Expanded Addressing Capabilities (multicast, anycast, etc)
    • Header Format Simplification
    • Flow Labeling Capability
    • Authentication and Privacy Capabilities
    There is no address space shortage as reported...everywhere. -davidu
    --

    # Hack the planet, it's important.
  16. Re:Oh wait, here's one by PD · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Metric time is based on divisions of 10. And so is the metric calendar.

  17. Excellent example! by Mike+Schiraldi · · Score: 3, Funny
    From the recent Slashdot IRC chat:

    reefer asks: Is there any system in place or a plan on developing some system to prevent duplicate posts?

    CmdrTaco: Whatever. Next.


    Great attitude there, Rob.
  18. Last time with ISO protocols. by dfries · · Score: 5, Interesting
    In 1998 the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) mandated that equipment must support the ISO protocols (rather than TCP/IP) or demonstrate how their systems could support them. It was expected the commercial sector would adopt the ISO standards. It didn't happen, computers were shipped with ISO-compliant code, but people kept using TCP/IP. The requirement was dropped in 1994.

    It is definitely a good thing, but the US isn't going to shift to IPv6 just because one government department has decided to use it. It will happen by people getting involved with IPv6. Jump on the 6-bone today.

    www.freenet6.net, it's free.

  19. Re:Big numbers... by caluml · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's hierarchical. Someone owns "all" the IP addresses. Big ISP 1 asks for a chunk of space, and gets, oh, I don't know, a /30. ISP 2 gets a /36. Company 3 (me :O) ) gets a /48, which is 65536 subnets, each of 2^64 addresses, which is more than enough for me.
    Hierarchical is good, as it means that the world doesn't need to know about routes for each company. It just says: Oh, that address is in the range belonging to Big ISP 1, so I'll pass it on. Big ISP 1 knows that it belongs to ISP 2, and ISP 2 passes it on to Company 3.

  20. Coming faster and faster by anticypher · · Score: 4, Interesting

    IPv6 is picking up steam, another push like this is going to make it appear in all new computers a little bit sooner.

    In every installation I've rolled out in the last few years, I've specced IPv6 support. Every network, router, interconnect, carrier and transit has had IPv6 working. Not always working very well, but enough that people didn't notice whether their traffic went over IPv6 or v4.

    Solaris has had IPv6 for several years, and the current release its on by default, plug it into a network with an IPv6 router and it works. M$ is playing catch up by including it natively in XP, but it still takes some tweaking. The linux distros will have to start making it enabled by default (no more kernel recompiles), but that may be happening as I type this. More and more applications are being written as fully IPv6 aware, and most of the traditional apps like ping, FTP, traceroute and SSH are now re-written to use IPv6 when a AAAA record is returned from a DNS lookup. There still is a lot of work to be done, like fully working dynamic DNS updates, and DHCPng, route servers, and a free (as in everything) certificate system for IPSec. Every new release of every browser should check for IPv6 and use it whenever possible, M$ claims that will happen starting with their next desktop releases.

    Where I've seen the most far-sighted development is in the newest generation of GSM mobile phones. All the big players are including IPv6 in their current handset designs, and the carriers are now developing value added services to sell. So its not just each phone is individually addressable, but can roam onto competing carriers networks and still have a globally accessible address. Internally, every carrier in Europe with 2.5G/3G services is running IPv6 for everything (except for a few dinosaurs about to be extinct). The other big area is giving each credit card with a smart chip (anti-fraud and verification chip) a range of IPv6 addresses. When the card is put into a reader or used for an online purchase, the chip will actively participate in the verification step by being uniquely addressable and requesting end-to-end encryption. There were several card manufacturers showing off their tiny IPv6 stacks at a recent smartcard trade show.

    As I've pointed out in a post months ago, many ISPs here in Europe are making IPv6 available for early adopters, in the hopes of riding the next wave to some higher margins. I've had clients ask me for advice on getting onto the "new internet", because they didn't want to get left behind on the "old and obsolete internet". Then I point out how they are already on it, and my installations use the "new internet" whenever possible.

    IPv6 is here, it works, and soon consumers will make it a "must-have" item when buying a new computer. When that starts happening, then techies with a few years of solid IPv6 experience will be sought after for their skills.

    the AC
    working with IPng/IPv6 since 1994

    --
    Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
  21. Re:Recap by geekoid · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "It is simply not feasible that we will ever need anything more than IPv6."

    baring an artificial scarcity. Like somebody buys 300 trillion trillion of them. You think thats unlikly, but if some company offered everybody on te board of "whoever will hand these out" 10 million dollars, do you honestly think they would run into a problem getting them?
    Hell, if I had the money to do so, I would the resale on these would be huge.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  22. I can't wait by theCat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    OK, this is very funny. IP addys for every bullet. But listen gang, the ISPs have been tight fisted with IP addresses for so long that most of you young-uns don't even remember the day when anyone with a router could count on a Class-C or even B to themselves. Those days are LONG gone; now you get DSL and you pay for ONE frigging static IP address, and if you want anything like a big chunk of a Class-C you have to pay serious cash. Monthly. And upgrade? You want more? Well all the IPs on either side of your teeny tiny block were sold to other shmoes already, so if you want more you get a whole new block. So you better get more than you think you will need...ever...or else everytime you run over your public IP space you will need to reconfig your entire public facing Internet presence to a new block.

    But you know what, that's not really a technology limit, that's a BUSINESS MODEL.

    Watch this. When they finally go over to IPv6 and later install your new DSL, know what the knee-biting bastards will do? First, they will charge you MORE for a basic DSL with dynamic IP because now it is the new-fangled IPv6 (new=$$$). Then they will assign you a SINGLE IP addy from their store of 128 trillion. And they will assign IP addresses this way in SEQUENCE to all subscribers so that as soon as you get yours you are boxed in by other subscribers just getting theirs. You know they will, it will be a strategic decision to completely undermine the freedom you SHOULD have when there are about 1 billion IP addresses for every human alive on earth.

    The only way around this would be to issue IP blocks to physical locations on the earth, so no matter where you are you have all the IP addresses reservered for that square meter of dirt, and if you have a large home/office/company then you have a big block indeed. ISPs would be forced to backbone their entire geographic area, including the whole planet if they are big enough.

    As a business model it sucks big wind. But I like it as an end user.

    Wire the planet. Freedom to connect! No more IP address space tyranny!!

    --
    =^..^= all your rodent are belong to us
    1. Re:I can't wait by El · · Score: 3, Funny
      The only way around this would be to issue IP blocks to physical locations on the earth, so no matter where you are you have all the IP addresses reservered for that square meter of dirt...

      Well, wouldn't that make mobile computing a pain... "uh oh, by car has moved twenty feet, better change my IP address!" as you're going down the freeway.

      --

      "Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney

  23. Advantages of IPV6 by 42forty-two42 · · Score: 3, Informative

    For those not in the know, here is a brief article Explaining the benefits of IPV6.

  24. One good rant deserves another by p3d0 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    First of all, when you say "everything we know about number theory", I presume that's the theory that lots of things divide 12 and 60 evenly. Well so what? That's only one small advantage to an otherwise baroque, arcane system.

    Second, that essay sucks. For instance, a pint is not 250ml, but 568ml. The reason people order pints of beer instead of 568ml (or even a half-litre) is mostly historical, but it's also because it's handy to have a nice short name for a measure you use often. If they had used metric for beer all along, then people would have needed a short nickname for a half-litre, and perhaps they would have called it a pint. It's the same way we call kilometres "clicks", and it has nothing to do with base 10, or fractions, or "number theory" as you say.

    This guy goes on to say:

    We change everything into metric, then people find it more useful to use fractions, and then they give names to these fractions, and before you know it, we're back where we started from!

    No, we are most certainly not back where we started from. If you like to give a name to 3/7 of a metre, that's your business, but I like the fact that I can do mental math in metric, and convert units just by sliding the decimal point.

    For example, if I'm travelling at 31km/h, what is that in metres per second? It turns out the hardest part of that calculation is converting hours into seconds, which involves dividing by 3.6. As far as mental arithmetic goes, it doesn't get much harder than that. There's your precious number threory for you. And it only gets worse if you try to turn 31mph into feet per second.

    In contrast, if my car uses 7.3 litres of fuel per 100km, what is that in millilitres per km? It's 73. It's so simple you can do it in your head, and get your answer with as much precision as you want, so long as you are capable of sliding the decimal point properly for each unit conversion.

    Later, we find this demented little nugget:

    So then I go to my mother-in-law-to-be, and I say, "Hey, these recipes call for cup of something, how much is that exactly?" And she pulls out her cup that she drinks coffee from to show me, and I say,"Yeah, but aren't different cups sometimes different sizes?"

    And then she said, "Ja zeker!" And she took me to her china cabinet and showed me all the different cups she has and all the different sizes there are. And then I said, "Yeah but Francine, doesn't this like, ever become a problem in knowing exactly how much to use?" and she shrugged her shoulders and nodded!

    So that means the European kitchens are less precise than American and English. They just take any old cup, any old spoon! So where is the advantage of being metric?

    The problem here, if you'll take a moment to think about it, is that the authors of these cookbooks are not using the metric system. If they were, the problem would disappear. (In fact, if they would use any consistent system, the problem would disappear.)

    How the author manages to blame this on the metric system is beyond my comprehension.

    The best part comes next. I think my whole attitude on this "essay" can be focused on this one small quote:

    So we have this friend who is a carpenter, and I see him, and I say, "Hey, Freddie, when you have a board a meter long, how do you divide it into 3?" And he sortof gives me a funny look, and says why would he want to do that. And I say, well, How does that work? Because in the metric system, a third of a meter isn't marked on your ruler so what do you do? don't you ever have a board of one meter that you have to divide by three? And he says No.

    You don't need to read anything else in this essay---even the rest of this paragraph, where he goes on to say that people buy wood in 120cm lengths---because it's all here. Nobody cares if you can't divide a metre into 3, just like nobody cares if you can'

    --
    Patrick Doyle
    I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
  25. Small/independant ISPs? by qtp · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What is to prevent the independant ISPs from switching thier systems over?

    I believe that cisco already supports IPv6 on most (all?) of thier equipment. There are IPv6 packages for most OS, and you can support IPv6 and IPv4 simultaneously if neccessary.

    Is it neccessary for the smaller guys to wait?

    If .mil is going IPv6 in 2008, does that mean the rest of the net waits until then?

    That seems a little ass backwards to me.

    --
    Read, L
  26. An IBM Rep. at some conference once.. by Radix42 · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...was telling the audience (mostly non-technical) about IPv6.

    He mentioned how many addresses, and then asked if anyone knew what that meant.

    He said that it would mean there would be enough for every frickin appliance, and it could run Java on it, and did anyone know what THAT meant?

    Of course no one was supposed to have any answers, it was almost all PHBs there (I got dragged along to man a cursed booth).

    So I raised my hand and said "So you can get up in the morning and reboot your toaster?"

    EVERYONE burst out laughing!