Slashdot Mirror
There Is No Plan B, the Ugly Transition To IPv6
An anonymous reader writes "The Internet is running out of IPv4 addresses — not at some point in the future, but right now. But the only solution to the problem, IPv6, is just now really starting to be deployed. That's why we're all in for some tough times ahead."
True, that is obligatory. Map of the Internet
I've wondered why this hasnt been done sooner. There are some relatively small groups out there with class A blocks (16.7m) still. Make those who own these blocks justify their use. I believe back when the internet was just a wee bub, IP addresses were handed out to anyone who wanted them. And some companies just took huge chunks.
Have a look at this list for starters http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assigned_/8_IPv4_address_blocks or http://abhishek.nagar.me/content/class-ip-address-and-owners
Some organizations, such as Stanford University, formerly using 36.0.0.0/8, have returned their allocated block to assist in the delay of the exhaustion of addresses. Perhaps some others could follow in their steps.
Those who can, do. Those who cannot, sue.
ICANN considered this option, but decided that it didn't extend the deadline out far enough to be worth the costs.
http://blog.icann.org/2008/02/recovering-ipv4-address-space/
X(7): A program for managing terminal windows. See also screen(1).
what limitations? my iphone is on NAT. what will IPV6 allow me to do on it that i can't do now
The original idea of the Internet was a network of peers. Every address was globally routable, and any machine could host content.
There are obvious security issues with this... Which is why we've got firewalls... But there wasn't really anything standing in the way of you hosting a game server, or website, or whatever on your home machine.
NAT now stands in the way of you doing this. NAT has destroyed the whole "network of peers" thing.
NAT is fine for simply consuming content. For your iPhone, for example, I doubt if it's an issue. And if you're just loading up random web pages at home, or connecting to WoW, or whatever - you'll be fine.
But if you want to host a web page at home you're going to have to not just open the ports in your firewall, but forward the traffic from your outside IP to the inside IP. And if you want a second box to serve up a web page too? Too bad. You only get one port 80 per IP address, and you've only got one globally routable IP address.
Again, if all you're doing is consuming, this isn't all that much of a problem. But then you aren't a peer, either.
Where this starts to be more of an issue is with various devices that we now want to be able to communicate with remotely. It's becoming more and more common for people to want to remote into home computers. Or maybe program a DVR remotely. Or maybe some utility company wants to be able to check your electric/water meter remotely.
Being able to host your own content is becoming more important, not less. And shoving everything behind NAT is becoming more of a problem, not less.
"Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
"which thanks to compression looks as fast as 500k DSL"
hahaha, no.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on