[arin-ppml] The non-deployment of IPv6

[Keith W. Hare]

>From my viewpoint as a small network, the obstacles to implementing IPv6 are:

1. Finding firewall (or whatever vendors are calling it today) equipment that supports IPv6

2. Finding an upstream that supports IPv6

As you jump up and down and yell that there are lots of network hardware vendors that support IPv6, take a few minutes and see if you can find where on their web sites and spec sheets they document IPv6 support. For a firewall, I need something in the $5,000 range, so I don't have a dedicated sales person. Every time I go out and start looking at equipment in that ball park, I get really frustrated, because the vendors don't think IPv6 support is important enough to document clearly, in large print.

I do have a small Linksys/Cisco router with some IPv6 support (Thanks for the recommendation Ted) that I'm using as a gateway. It would allow me to set up an IPv6 tunnel to a tunnel broker someplace. However, I see no point in doing this until I get a firewall that supports IPv6.

I periodically ask my sales rep for my current upstream (Windstream) about IPv6. As yet, she has not gotten any information about Windstream's IPv6 plans.

I recently talked to a sales rep for TimeWarner Business and asked about IPv6. He didn't admit to knowing anything about IPv6 support. From discussions on this list, I know TimeWarner is working on IPv6, but the local guy doesn't know about it.

I contend that until IPv6 is important enough that IPv6 support is in big print in the spec sheets and on the outside of the boxes, there isn't going to be a demand for IPv6. 

In answer to John Curran's question about internal versus external, I would start with IPv6 internally on servers and a couple of desktops then when I understood IPv6 well enough, I'd deploy it externally on web servers, DNS servers, etc. This order is the opposite of what many might do, but since we are database consultants, our internal network is primarily used for software development and testing.

Keith


______________________________________________________________
 
Keith W. Hare                     JCC Consulting, Inc.
keith at jcc.com                     600 Newark Road
Phone: 740-587-0157               P.O. Box 381
Fax: 740-587-0163                 Granville, Ohio 43023
http://www.jcc.com                USA
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