Not every day we have the opportunity to witness how the World Wide Web upgrades its own internal plumbing so to speak. The IPv6 Network protocol is one of these rare opportunities.
In terms of network technologies we are dealing with a real revolution – a revolution that might be at the beginning invisible for the end user, but which will make a big difference for professionals such as network administrators.
The changes were overdue for a long time now, and not only because the nervous system of the modern world is running out of IP addresses. With more than 300 million internal addresses per end user, it would be a hell of an understatement to claim that version 6 of the internet protocol will solve this problem. From now on you can allocate an IP address to every sheet of toilette paper in your office, and still stay with some leftovers for the PC’s. Splitting addresses with NAT will soon be as useful to you as a lifelong supply of 3.5 MB floppy disks.
This of course has some minor downsides. The relative damage to information security will have to be compensated with increased use of firewalls. Also, in the near future you won’t be able to show off with your ability to know all the office IP addresses by heart. With 128 bit long IP’s you will have to gain the mental abilities of the “Rain-man” to pull this one of.
Nevertheless the IPv6 constitutes a true relief for administrators of small and medium networks. The automatic configuration option dismisses you from the need to mess with DHCP. Not to mention the integrated support for IPsec without the need to define further settings, the enhanced speed and the upgraded performances.
Some of you might move uneasily in your chair while thinking about upgrading to IPv6. The thought “Better not on my shift” might be heard somewhere between your ears. Well, for now you are still good with IPv4, but you should consider that in the very near future more and more organizations will have to make the switch – which will increase waiting periods and costs. This is even truer for soft- and hardware developers that already have to adapt themselves to the new work environment.
Actually, there is no reason at all why you should give up on any of the advantages that the new Internet protocol offers you. Especially since we at NAAM have already specialized in transferring v4 based networks to v6. We can ensure you minimal conversion times, complete system diagnostics, full implementation and troubleshooting, without you having to bother yourselves too much or loose valuable working days.
For any further questions, please contact us and we’ll gladly be at your service.