[arin-discuss] IPv6 Hurdles

[Garry Dolley]

On Fri, May 01, 2009 at 01:42:57PM -0400, Keith W. Hare wrote:
> As a relatively small end user, I see a number of hurdles to implementing IPv6:
> 
> 1. Finding supported equipment that supports IPv6

I haven't had much trouble with this.  All my Linux and *BSD systems
support IPv6, same with my Cisco gear.  

There are some things that don't, like my PDUs and IPMI devices.
However, these are not things I would access from the "outside"
anyway.

Keep in mind that the transition to IPv6 does not mean IPv4 is going
to stop working across the board.  You can still use it internally
within your network for as long as you like, using RFC1918 address
space.

So let's pretend the Internet is all on IPv6 now.  How do I access
my PDUs and IPMI devices?  Well, I VPN into my network over IPv6 and
access those devices using legacy IPv4.  Easy.

This methodology could be supported for many years to come and not
hinder IPv6 deployment.

> 2. Getting IPv6 service from my ISP

Get an Apple Airport Extreme and it'll automatically put you on IPv6
over an anycast 6to4 tunnel.  Not that fastest stuff around, but it
works out of the box (at least in my experience).  I imagine other
home router vendors are doing the same.

For a more robust setup, just use a tunnel broker.  Most are free.

And, if by ISP, you mean an ISP at your data center, well if they
don't support IPv6 yet, then consider getting a more progressive one
;)  About half the people I peer with already support IPv6, as does
my network.

> 3. Learning enough to configure and use IPv6

No shortcut on this, you just gotta invest the time.

A couple good tutorials will get you up to speed with 90% of what
you need to know.

> 4. Pushing business application vendors to support IPv6

What kind of apps are you looking at?  All the open source apps I
use already have IPv6.  Are you looking at proprietary solutions?

-- 
Garry Dolley
ARP Networks, Inc. | http://www.arpnetworks.com | (818) 206-0181
Data center, VPS, and IP Transit solutions
Member Los Angeles County REACT, Unit 336 | WQGK336
Blog http://scie.nti.st