IPv6 - a must for all organizations

It has been known for a long time that the protocol being used for communication over Internet, IPv4 (e.g. 171.101.121.22) is about to run out on available addresses. Despite this awareness and although there exists another protocol, IPv6, that solves this problem – there has only been a minimal transition to IPv6.

The problem with IPv4 is that it only allows approximately 4 billion unique IP-addresses, which is the parameter used to identify connected computers. And as the world becomes more connected we are running out of available addresses on Internet. Only the world's one billion mobile phones could take up a quarter of the IP numbers that are available with IPv4.

The lack of addresses will soon become critical and it is time to begin the shift to IPv6, which is the only way to guarantee a stable future Internet infrastructure. The lack of IPv4 addresses is estimated become critical during Year 2011. Many political authorities warn, and emphasize the importance of the transition to IPv6, and the Swedish government has taken an initiative by requiring IPv6 support in all public procurements.

IPv6 vs. IPv4 - 128-bit protocol instead of 32-bit

With IPv6, the IP-addresses will become 128 bit long instead of 32, which means that the total number of possible addresses will almost be unlimited. Going from the scenario where IPv4 addresses doesn't even cover ONE address per person in the world, to the scenario where every individual could get 5 x 10 raised to the 28 power of addresses each. You could get a total of 50 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 IP addresses for yourself!

DNS will be a central building block for the IPv6 transition

In order to perform a transition to IPv6, a chain of several components has to be closed. All units that are part taking in the chain of communication has to be prepared for IPv6 addresses. Example of such units are firewalls, web servers, email servers, switches etc.

Most of the active equipment that is delivered today is already prepared with support for IPv6. In order to utilize these possibilities and complete the IPv6 transition, a high demand is therefore directed towards the DNS solutions used by the organization. DNS becomes the central point for all communication and connects all technical equipment. A requirement for the implementation of IPv6 is to have a DNS platform that can handle IPv6 records in the zone and that the DNS servers are resolving on IPv6 requests.

Excedo DNS handles both IPv4 and IPv6

The Excedo DNS platform which is based on a Global IP Anycast Technology and is being delivered from 17 datacenters globally has full support for IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. This means that our name servers are resolving on both IPv4 and Ipv6 requests as well as it is possible to manage IPv4 and Ipv6 records in the zone. This functionality is included as standard in our solution at no extra cost.

If you are interested to find out more about our DNS solution, contact Excedo DNS.