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Internet to run out of IP addresses in 500 days...
- Thread starter pukifloyd
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I've been hearing "two years of IP addresses left" for close to ten years now. I'm relatively confident that we will not have run out in 500 days' time.
However, I've seen lots of articles saying "you need to move to IPv6", but none of them seem to explain HOW to do such a thing. Even the first page of Google results for "how to move to ipv6" mostly consists of articles saying "hurry up and move" with no actual information on how to do such a thing.
From the information that I've pieced together, I need to wait for my ISP to offer IPv6 support before doing anything else. Is that correct?
However, I've seen lots of articles saying "you need to move to IPv6", but none of them seem to explain HOW to do such a thing. Even the first page of Google results for "how to move to ipv6" mostly consists of articles saying "hurry up and move" with no actual information on how to do such a thing.
From the information that I've pieced together, I need to wait for my ISP to offer IPv6 support before doing anything else. Is that correct?
Thanks to Network Address Translation, it's not going to run out. There are over a thousand devices inside my company between printers, phones, notebooks, servers. We only have 5 external IP addresses, and two thousand plus, inside.
IPv6 is WAY off from normal use. Your ISP will still hand down IPv4 addresses in the same manner. So, we're cool.
There's nothing to worry about, it won't run out in 500 days either. We still have about less than a decade left, since we are going to be transiting between IPv4 and IPv6 for a long time. NAT is helping big time to slow down the IPv4 consumption. There's also a couple of large A blocks reserved for breaking down into smaller classes once we finish off the current IPv4 B/C classes.
The biggest problem now is the IPv6 transition, it's going too slow. There's a lot of issues with tunneling between IPv4 and IPv6, especially DNS as well. It's going to take a long transition but we won't be phasing out IPv4 any time soon, not for another two decades.
I mean even our root DNS servers are not fully IPv6 ready yet, which is sad and we're just starting to mandate DNSSEC for the root servers next month.
As for people asking about moving to IPv6, there's no need to for customers. You don't have to do anything except wait. ISP has to be ready for it first, not you. The IPv6 move has to be done from the top down, from the biggest companies to the cable/dsl/dialup customers.
The biggest problem now is the IPv6 transition, it's going too slow. There's a lot of issues with tunneling between IPv4 and IPv6, especially DNS as well. It's going to take a long transition but we won't be phasing out IPv4 any time soon, not for another two decades.
I mean even our root DNS servers are not fully IPv6 ready yet, which is sad and we're just starting to mandate DNSSEC for the root servers next month.
As for people asking about moving to IPv6, there's no need to for customers. You don't have to do anything except wait. ISP has to be ready for it first, not you. The IPv6 move has to be done from the top down, from the biggest companies to the cable/dsl/dialup customers.
A side effect of the Compaq / Digital and the HP / Compaq mergers?
HP owns 15.x.x.x and 16.x.x.x.
And I have a map that says in the not too distant past, the US Postal Service owned the 56.x.x.x block. Maybe that's how they'll fund themselves in the future, selling subnets, and maybe hosting. They have a huge distributed set of offices. Servers in some of the key locations and they could be a huge national co-lo / cloud company. (And if anybody takes that idea from me and makes zillions, all I ask is that they buy me a stacked Mac Pro. Thanks!)
well if you look it this way the general population has no reason to understand anything about the differnece between vpv4 and ipv6. It is the ISP, DNS servers, and host that will have the issues. The largest issues for companies is changing the internal IP routing for their web page.
To play Devil's Advocate:
On the other hand, the boom of smartphones and 3G data, and soon, the new applications that will be created by 4G data, are going to be creating a new drain in IP addresses.
We are already starting to see cameras that can upload pictures they take over 3G (thus taking an IP address), book readers that can access a store and download books over 3G (aka Kindle), a new generation of laptops and tablets that can hop on the 3G networks (like the iPad), phones being able to access the internet over 3G becoming the standard...
All of these devices don't get to make use of NAT.
People are starting to predict that, with LTE/4G in the next year, people might begin using it for their main internet access. But, devices connecting directly to 3G or 4G networks get their own IP addresses...no NAT.
While a business might have a thousand computers all using only one IP address...each employee in that business might be using three or four (a Blackberry, a laptop w/3G, their home internet connection, their Kindle...).
I'm pretty sure that any device you connect over 3G will go to an internal IP address allocated by your 3G provider and then be NATed to the wider internet (at least that's what happens in the UK) by the provider
It could be an option. With Telecom NZ I get a NAT address by default, but can switch to a public address by using the APN menu. I believe that Optus in Australia hands out public addresses by default.
I was thinking more along the lines of my home network. Once my ISP offers IPv6, I guess that all my local equipment would continue to use v4 unless I decided to switch it over. Is that correct? Is there anything I can do in advance on a rainy day to make the transition easier when it comes?
Apple should migrate internally to IPv6 and sell off the 17.0.0.0/8 class A range. At the moment it's worth a fortune as an asset. In 10 years it'll be worthless.
BTW, everyone keeps telling me that ARIN, RIPE etc. are getting more restrictive in what they give out. I've noticed no change in policy myself.
BTW, everyone keeps telling me that ARIN, RIPE etc. are getting more restrictive in what they give out. I've noticed no change in policy myself.
Awesome! Hopefully the government will issue us all some sort of survival kit... this could be Y2K all over again...
Well the problem will mostly be on the ISP again. Your computer does not care if you put in 12 digits or 100. It will say I want to go to that location.
A DNS server just tells you want IP to go to.
My understanding is your home network will be find to run v4 when the switch happens.
The only way to convert you system over is it would require a firmware update to your router as they are not program to handle it but at the same time 192.xxx.xxx.xxx. I know there are some other numbers that are already complete called for for calling routers and since there are so many 192.xx that is a lot of computers on one internal network before you run out.
If all your computer gear sits behind a router (hint - this applies to 99.99% of the population) then you have nothing to worry about for a good few years yet.
(Mobile devices will sit behind the routers that the telco uses)
The only people who need to worry about this are IT officers at large multi-sited companies, and ISP technical staff.
(Mobile devices will sit behind the routers that the telco uses)
The only people who need to worry about this are IT officers at large multi-sited companies, and ISP technical staff.
