Why should I care about IPv6?

IPv6 is the future of the Internet, and without it we can no longer grow.

We have been growing the commercial Internet for decades using the IPv4 address space. At the time of its creation, IPv4 was not intended to satisfy the needs of a global commercial Internet. It was intended to support the needs of experimental research and government networks. We have known all along IPv4 was a limited resource and that one day it would fully deplete. That day has come. For some geographic regions there is no remaining IPv4 address space to be distributed for general purpose use. Very soon, IPv4 will be fully depleted around the globe.

The Number Resource Organization has more information about the depletion of the IPv4 resource.

For us to move forward and continue adding new devices and services to the Internet, we must deploy IPv6. It was designed with the needs of a global commercial Internet in mind, and deploying it is the only way we can continue forward with an open and innovative Internet.

Where can I learn the basics of IPv6?

Several ebooks are now available that can help you rapidly get up to speed on what is involved with IPv6:

• IPv6 Consumers Guide
• IPv6 For All: A Guide for IPv6 Usage and Application in Different Environments
• IPv6 for IPv4 Experts (Available in English and Russian)

Basic IPv6 security resources:

• CPNI – Security implications of IPV6
• IPv6 Hackers group/mailing

Some other resources that you may find helpful include:

• Internet Society IPv6 Fact Sheet
• Slide deck explaining the basics of IPv6
• Wikipedia IPv6 entry
• 6Deploy tutorials
• DNS Considerations for IPv6

The ISOC Argentina Chapter also published an excellent book, that provides a tutorial on getting started with IPv6 on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.

Do you know of additional resources we should consider adding here? Or are there additional “basic” questions you feel we should answer here? If so, please send them to us.