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Dept. of Defense IPv6 Interoperabilty Test Begins

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the let's-get-it-on dept.

securitas writes "The Department of Defense has launched Phase I of its delayed IPv6 interoperability test (mirror) in a six-month project dubbed Moonv6. It is the largest North American IPv6 test ever and its goal is to evaluate IPv6 for 'network-centric military operations.' Phase II was originally scheduled to begin in January 2004 but may be delayed due to the late start of the current test. 'IPv4 addresses are 32 bits long, enough for around 4 billion unique addresses.' In contrast, the IPv6 address length is '128 bits, or 340 billion billion billion billion unique addresses.' Experts hope this will solve a predicted IP address shortage as more devices are created to use the Internet."

4 of 371 comments (clear)

  1. But first... by jo42 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Here is a web site and project that tracks how IPv4 addresses are allocated and misused, i.e. hijacked: http://www.completewhois.com/statistics/index.htm.

    The way I read it, a huge percentage of IPv4 addresses are not even being used...

  2. Security by rf0 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    With built in things like IPSec + Auto Config it will help the DOD deploy things quickly and securly. Of course for the rest of us it might take another 5-10 years before all running on IPv6

    Rus

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  3. Re:I don't care what you say by amorsen · · Score: 4, Interesting
    One very interesting service that I would like to host on my phone is... wait for it... Voice!

    I would like people to call my phone with VoIP. That is a "service", and I need an IP address for it.

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  4. Why did they pick 128? by njdj · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Does anybody know why TPTB decided on 128 bits for IPv6? 64 would have been more than enough. IP addressing is not like memory or disk space, where you can envisage ever-increasing requirements. It's an addressing scheme for devices. 64-bit addresses are big enough to have nearly a billion uniquely addressable devices for every human being on Earth. Why isn't that enough, even allowing for some spare bits to make address-assignment easier? Do you plan to ask for a billion addresses for the billion devices you plan to attach to the Internet?