[arin-ppml] How hard is it to transition to IPv6?

[Scott Helms]

Antonio,

    I'm frankly not that concerned about the pieces that I control, its 
the hundreds of thousands of end user devices that I don't.  In addition 
there are lot of pieces of gear that ISPs do control that don't have an 
upgrade path either because the vendor doesn't exist or the vendor 
decided to end of life the product.  I can tell you that most of the 
smaller ISPs still providing dial up, and yes there is still a ton of it 
out there, are doing it on old gear (much/most of that being Portmaster 
3s).  It's not that there isn't a solution, but it will be expensive and 
complicated and again that is before we include the issues with end user 
equipment.

Antonio Querubin wrote:
> On Fri, 27 Mar 2009, Scott Helms wrote:
>
>>    I wish I were as optimistic as you, and my view is based on testing
>> in our environment.  While it will be fairly easy for some kinds of
>> companies this is going to be a total nightmare for ISP's.  It's pain
>> that has to borne, but that doesn't make it easy to swallow.
>
> I don't think it's that extreme for ISPs.  As with any major 
> undertaking, it's best done by breaking the task up into small 
> manageable pieces.  It will take time, but it's nowhere near as 
> difficult as some say.  The key for us has been to integrate the 
> necessary changes into normal equipment, infrastructure, and 
> software/application update plans.  We started messing with IPv6 years 
> ago, we're still not completely done yet, and some parts of our 
> infrastructure and services may never be IPv6 ready.  But having 
> started the transition process early means we're better prepared to 
> handle any future customer requirements.
>
> Antonio Querubin
> whois:  AQ7-ARIN
>
>


-- 
Scott Helms
Vice President of Technology
ISP Alliance, Inc. DBA ZCorum
(678) 507-5000