Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home IT Management
    • IT Management

    IPv6: So Far, Few Takers

    By
    eWEEK EDITORS
    -
    May 21, 2001
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      The new Internet Protocol Standard will make the public Internet more reliable, international and useful — or so the theory goes, since the IP version 6 movement is so far missing the key element of applications.

      “There is not much pull in the market today for IPv6,” said Al Javed, chief technology officer of wireless Internet at Nortel Networks and a keynote speaker at last weeks IPv6 Forum in Ottawa. “What we need now is applications.”

      Last years anticipation that wireless service providers would sanction construction of overlay IPv6 backbones has yet to bear fruit. Sales of IPv6 bandwidth from existing overlay service providers are largely supporting experimental, not commercial, services.

      Besides, many U.S. Internet companies still view skeptically the alleged shortage of IP addresses using the current standard.

      IPv6 addresses have been available since 1999, and are expected to be the driving force behind IPv6 upgrades. Millions of next-generation wireless phones will each need an IP address to work properly, and numerous devices connected to the Internet, such as office IP phones or gaming devices, will also need individual addresses. Some estimate that the 4 billion addresses available in the current IPv4 will be depleted by 2010.

      Without IPv6 deployed at the Internets core, there is little incentive to develop applications that would require the new standard. But with no paying customers in sight, why bother to upgrade networks?

      For many IPv6 boosters, Japan is an example of how things should be done, with its government-imposed deadline to upgrade its information technology sectors to run on IPv6 by 2005. The mandate is expected to stimulate network upgrades and application development.

      “Japan is the first to deploy IPv6. Because they were the last on the previous Internet, they didnt make money on it, and since they are rejuvenating the Japanese economy, they see IPv6 as infrastructure that would help them regain lost ground on the Internet,” said Latif Ladid, president of the IPv6 Forum and vice president at Ericsson Telebit.

      Japan will need new addresses the soonest. Currently, North America has 74 percent of IP addresses, Europe 17 percent and the Asia-Pacific region just 9 percent.

      NTT, which owns U.S.-based Web hoster and backbone operator Verio, launched the worlds first native IPv6 backbone on April 27, signing customers including Fujitsu, Matsushita Graphic Communication Systems, NEC and NTTPC Communications.

      NTT has beaten other large competitors, such as Qwest Communications International and Sprint, to the punch with its IPv6 initiative, underscoring that in the U.S., most of the IPv6 work among backbones is still done in the lab.

      Seattle start-up Zama Networks has built a Pacific Rim-centered IPv6 backbone and sells IPv6 bandwidth and colocation. But Tim Martin, vice president at Zama, said most of the companys work is centered on consulting and helping companies experiment with IPv6.

      Other U.S. players, large and small, are entering the fray. Last week, Cisco Systems announced it will add IPv6 software to the next generation of its router management software. Microsoft is making the IPv6 software available to download for a Windows XP Software Developers Kit upgrade, and IPv6 is also available with certain flavors of Linux and Unix. New vendors, such as California start-up InterNetShare, have developed products aimed at enterprises.

      The activity on the edge of the Net inspires optimism in some that the IPv6 revolution could happen without backbones participating and will be driven by enterprise customers.

      Avatar
      eWEEK EDITORS

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×