World has to move to IPv6--Vint Cerf
By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 15:48:00 05/21/2008
Filed Under: Computing & Information Technology, Technology (general), Internet, Networking
MANILA, Philippines -- "IPv6. Its time has come," Vinton Cerf, vice president and chief Internet evangelist for Google, said on video during the first IPv6 summit here.
Cerf, whose video message was played at the beginning of the summit, stressed that the current Internet address spaces using the Internet Protocol version 4 or IPv4, is clearly running out. And this spells problems for future Internet users.
In the 1960s, Cerf worked with packet network connection protocols for ARPANet, the predecessor of the Internet, and thus he is often referred to as the father of the Internet.
IPv6 is the next "language" of the Internet. The world has been using IP version 4 since the 80s. It is the language that connects the Internet today. But Internet experts like Cerf are now saying that the IP addresses using this older version are almost depleted.
Latif Ladid, president of the IPv6 Forum, said in an interview that only about 16 percent of IPv4 addresses are remaining for all Internet users worldwide. Because of this shortage, Internet service providers are now rationing IP addresses.
Cerf said the Internet has been evolving, and IPv6 is the next major revolution that has to happen soon.
Sadly, only a few countries are moving to IPv6. Ladid said IPv6 is like giving each device in the world a unique telephone number. At this time, the limited IP addresses are shared by people or organizations.
Currently, majority of IPv6-ready devices are in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China, he said.
"We don't share our phone numbers but we share our IP addresses with our neighbors," Ladid said.
The IPv6 Forum is now a global organization that is establishing chapters all over the world. The Philippine chapter was established this year to encourage network operators, Internet service providers, the industry and even the end-users to migrate to IPv6.
In the Philippines, the Advance Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) and the Philippine Network Operators Group set up the Philippine Open Internet Exchange to encourage more local industry and networks to move to IPv6.
"You won't expect users to demand IPv6. Internet service providers and telecommunications companies have to make a choice," said Dennis Villorente, director of the Advance Science and Technology Institute (ASTI), in an interview, quoting Ladid.
Villorente said there are currently five local networks that have joined the Philippine Open Internet Exchange, which is the first Internet exchange in the country that supports both IPv4 and IPv6.
These local networks include Globe Telecom, Bitstop, Philcom, International Rice Research Institute and Bell Telecoms. The ASTI-run Philippine Research, Education and Government Information Network also operates on IPv6.
Ladid said IPv6 would eventually allow people creating their own "Skype services" without going to Skype. Considering all devices will have its own IP address, IPv6 will allow devices to talk to each other without the need for a lot of protocol "translations."
"Users around the world can eventually talk to each other directly," Ladid said.
Asked how many IPv6 addresses are available to users worldwide, Ladid said it is 3.4 times 10 to the power of 38. If an IP address is a grain of rice, IPv6 is enough to feed the whole world for centuries, he added.
"It will last for a long time," he added. "IPv6 allows Internet consumers to become producers."
The IPv6 Summit was organized by the IPv6 Forum of the Philippines, Department of Science and Technology-ASTI, and the Philippine Network Operators Group.
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