Internet users now routinely use their connected devices to follow favorite topics; video-conference with colleagues and to stay connected with friends and family across the world. What many users may not know, however, is that every new device that connects to the Internet needs its own unique Internet number, known as an Internet Protocol (IP) address. What fewer know is that the Internet is in the midst of a major transition to a new version of IP addresses known as IPv6.
IPv4: A victim of its success
Started as an experiment in the 1970s, the Internet Protocol (IP) has been a phenomenal success. The protocol defines the numeric codes that identify devices and destinations for the Internet. It underpins the global Internet, connecting billions of users and devices and enabling the social and economic power of the World Wide Web.
IP’s utility and ubiquity have together led to the convergence a range of technologies, such as Voice-over-IP (VoIP), that have transformed how we relate, communicate and conduct business. But its global success has created a global challenge.
There are a finite number of IP addresses. The current system, known as IPv4, only has 4.3 billion combinations to go around. It sounded like an inexhaustible supply when the Internet began. Not any more. Thanks to the extraordinary growth of the Internet, we are now almost all out of IPv4 addresses. Today, barely 3.4 million addresses are left.
The American Registry of Internet Numbers (ARIN) expects that all remaining IP addresses for North America and the parts of the Caribbean they serve will be claimed before the end of this year. Europe ran out in 2012 and Asia since 2011.
IPv6: a no brainer solution, right?
Thankfully, the exhaust of IPv4 addresses has not caught the Internet community unawares. A replacement for IPv4, known as IPv6, was approved in 1998 and has been available ever since. The updated version launched with 340 undecillion addresses—that’s 340 trillion trillion trillion—and can comprehensively addresses the shortage.
So you’d think, “problem solved” and moving to IPv6 would be a no-brainer, right? Well, not exactly.
As with any large-scaled systems transition, there are always groups that cling as long as possible to legacy systems, either out of laziness or lack of economic incentive, or both. Just ask Microsoft about its efforts to migrate users off of its Windows XP operating system.
Transitioning the range of systems around the world that use IPv4 is not a straight forward undertaking. The Internet is huge. The tens of millions of routers, switches and servers that operate behind the scenes to make it work were mainly designed for IPv4. Upgrading infrastructure on such a massive scale entails a significant capital investment and careful planning.
Also, despite the age difference between IPv4 and IPv6, there is little automatic network performance or security improvements with using IPv6. The primary benefit is really about capacity.
However, on that front there are workarounds to extend the life of IPv4 systems. For example, Network Address Translation, commonly referred to as NAT, allows for multiple devices to share a single public IP.
Still, network engineers know such workarounds are only temporary fixes. The transition to IPv6 is inevitable. The challenge is that there is just no sufficiently compelling business argument to make the transition urgent or immediate.
Microsoft, for example, spent $7.5 million in 2011 buying 666,624 IPv4 addresses and effectively deferring its need to invest in transitioning its extensive network to IPv6.
Growing IPv6 adoption
There is some good news though. The Internet Society (ISOC) reported that more and more IPv6 being deployed in networks around the world, and those networks are seeing a lot of IPv6 traffic. Some of the world’s most popular websites—Google, YouTube, Yahoo!, and Wikipedia—have been using IPv6 for quite some time now.
Meanwhile, other major companies have been diligently preparing their networks for IPv6. Facebook, for example, announced that it has switched 90 percent of its network to IPv6. At this year’s Apple developer conference, Apple announced that the AppStore would require IPv6 support for all iOS 9 apps.
Slow Caribbean adoption
Where does this all leave the Caribbean? The major holders of IPv4 addresses in the Caribbean are the Internet Service Providers and network operators, like Cable and Wireless and Digicel. They are reported to have sufficient IPv4 resources to take care of current regional demand. As a consequence, IPv6 support does not feature high on the priority list. This may soon change.
"In the coming weeks, for the first time in ARIN’s history, an organisation will come to us to request IPv4 address space and qualify, but we won't have any in our inventory to fulfill the request," said Mark Kosters, ARIN's CTO, recently at a gathering of the Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG).
Organisations such as CaribNOG, the Caribbean Telecommunications Union have been raising awareness of the need for organisations and governments to transition their networks to IPv6.
Their message is now amplified by the reality of exhaustion of IPv4 addresses and the abundance of IPv6 address space for anyone who needs it.
Incentives for transition
Transitioning networks in the Caribbean to IPv6 is no longer a question of if, but when. Even with the available inventory of IPv4 addresses in the hands of ISPs, there is need for more. That need is being fuelled by the region’s growing appetite for and dependence on IP-based services and connected devices.
The technical expertise to meet that need exists in the region. There is also ample support is available from regional and international Internet organisations such CaribNOG, ARIN, LACNIC, ISOC and PCH to help organisations plan and implement the transition.
What is missing is appropriate incentives and an unequivocal commitment by network operators across the region to make the investment to upgrade their networks to support IPv6.
The time is now for national governments to provide regulatory and economic incentives to encourage IPv6 adoption. Governments can also lead by example by officially adopting IPv6 within government agencies and requiring it of service providers who must connect to government networks. Standards agencies can also require IPv6 compatibility in computing equipment procurement procedures.
The private sector should not wait for government or regulatory prodding though. Anyone responsible for managing an IP-based network should adopt IPv6 priority as if the future of their networks depended on it, because it does.
Securing IP addresses stability is key to safeguarding the bourgeoning Caribbean digital economy. With IPv4 coming to an end and Internet growth continuing to rise, there is no time like the present to make the shift to IPv6. It’s simply too important an issue to leave unaddressed.
Bevil Wooding is an Internet Strategist for Packet Clearing House (PCH), a US-based non-profit research organisation. He is also a founding member of the Caribbean Network Operators Group. Follow on Twitter: @bevilwooding