IPv6, If Not Now, When?!

Current IPv6 Matrix: http://www.ipv6matrix.org/

The overarching issue for IPv6 right now is beyond simply meeting the original OMB mandates - even though they are still very important for those agencies that have not yet met the basic requirements of the FY 2012 and FY 2014 milestones of the OMB mandates, or requesting the vendors who are doing business with the federal government to ensure that their IT related products and services to be in compliance with the FAR stipulations and their legal obligations to do so.

If the vendors’ focus is solely on the short-term profits and ROI, and if they are only interested in short-term gains by keeping exploring the potential loopholes of the regulations and the exceptions for the execution of the federal regulations and mandates, they will always be able to find ways and means to do so. Moreover, if ARIN will keep supporting and facilitating the ideas and practice of the after-depletion IPv4 exchanges among the current IPv4 addresses owners, which could potentially create a very active, perhaps very profitable, IPv4 brokerage business in the private sector, the vendors will definitely take advantage of the opportunities to continue doing so no matter what. This means the IPv6 transition will take a very long time to complete in the U.S. as we own the majority of the IPv4 addresses in the world and many big corporations and large research universities/institutions as well as many federal government agencies still have plenty of IPv4 addresses unused (or used very wisely).

The focus of the discussions for everyone, especially for those in the private sector which is still way behind the curve currently and continues to resist to fully adopt the IPv6 as its primary IP stack for all of its products and services despite of the demand by the federal government as the largest IT customer in this country, should be on the relationship between the critical need for supporting the future development of the Internet and the global adoption of the IPv6 as the vital foundation supporting the future of the Internet. It is a matter whether or not the future of the Internet will be able to survive without IPv6!

If the Internet of Things (IoT) will have anything to do with the Internet, if over 20 or 30 billion devices will be connected to the Internet as many smart people and large think-tanks have repeatedly predicated for the coming years, then there should be NO other choice for everyone but to adopt IPv6 globally in the coming years! This is because IPv4 has only a total of 4.3 billion unique addresses, most of which have already been depleted worldwide, while the IPv6 has 340 undecillion (that's 340 trillion trillion trillion) addresses, which is not only more than enough to support the anticipated 30+ billion IoT devices to be connected to the Internet in the near future but a whole lot more IP addresses that would be needed in the years to come. If nothing else, IPv6 will not only be able to ensure that the IoT will become a reality but also be capable of continuing to support the underlying networking infrastructure upon which IoT will be relying to survive and grow.

The vendors can and will keep sayings that there is no consumer demand for IPv6 or there is no immediate money to be made by transitioning now to IPv6, but there is undoubtedly money to be made from IoT! Most importantly, it is a matter of leadership, vision, and competitive edge for many of the companies in the private sector to consider its survivability in the era of IoT on a much larger global scale.

To me, the smart question on IPv6 should be, if not now, when?!

Disclaimer: The views presented are only personal opinions and they do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. Government.