IPv6
Preparing Your Enterprise for World IPv6 Launch
Last year on June 8, 2011 we all experienced World IPv6 Day. This was a 24-hour test for web sites to use both an IPv4 and IPv6 addresses simultaneously for the same URL. One June 6, 2012 there will be World IPv6 Launch in which many organizations will enable IPv6 forever. Enterprises will need to prepare for World IPv6 Launch whether or not they are actively participating and enabling IPv6.
World IPv6 Day Read more
IPv6 bumper sticker: 1 way to make your car stand apart from the crowd
Here's one way to get yourself a few honks on the highway: An official IPv6 oval bumper sticker, from Interop in Las Vegas last week.
MORE ON IPv6:
IPv6 Summit Recap
This week the 2012 North American IPv6 Summit conference took place in Denver, Colorado. This was likely the largest IPv6 conference in North America this year. This event is coordinated by the regional IPv6 task forces and is made possible by the efforts of many volunteers. The IPv6 Summit is a great way to learn about IPv6 and get information from leading IPv6 experts on the latest developments. This year's IPv6 Summit was bigger in every way than previous year's events. Read more
Should You Allow Inbound E-mail Over IPv6?
Federal organizations are aiming for September 2012 mandate to IPv6-enable their Internet perimeter applications. This not only includes IPv6-enabling web servers, but also IPv6-enabling e-mail servers. Therefore e-mail servers would be allowing inbound SMTP (TCP port 25) connections over IPv4 and IPv6. However, most e-mail content filtering companies only have defensive capabilities for IPv4. Do organizations really want to allow IPv6 e-mail if it is less secure than IPv4?
How Block Lists Work Read more
Internet Edge IPv6 Deployment
We are in an awkward point in the history of the Internet. IPv4 address depletion has occurred yet we expect to use IPv4 for the next 15 to 20 years. Organizations see two paths before them. One alternative is to use continue to use IPv4 and expect to use multiple layers of NAT for many years to come. The other alternative is to start to use IPv6, however, the majority of enterprise organizations and content providers have not embraced the protocol. Read more
IPv6 Week and World IPv6 Launch
On June 8, 2011 the world participated in World IPv6 Day. This was a 24-hour test for web sites to use both an IPv4 and IPv6 addresses simultaneously for the same URL. This week was IPv6 Week and later this year there will be World IPv6 Launch. Each of these events has a longer duration with the goal to permanently enable IPv6 on major web sites all over the world. Here is a review of these events and information on how you can participate.
World IPv6 Day Read more
The Future of Firewall Policies
The majority of today's firewalls have only IPv4 source and destination address objects in their policies. However, many of our firewalls are IPv6-capable and allow security administrators to configure either IPv4 or IPv6 policies. Over time, maintaining two firewall policies will become burdensome. Read more
I Want IPv6 for Christmas - Part II
Many years ago I wrote about the items that a person could buy for Christmas that include IPv6. The results were fairly sparse three years ago. Unfortunately, not much has changed. It is not easy to find IPv6-related gifts to give to your loved-ones this holiday season. Even if you have been extremely good this year, you may get a lump of coal in your IPv6 stocking. Read more
Measuring IPv6 Growth
People have debated the rate of adoption of IPv6 for years. Many people estimate the worldwide use of IPv6 through their own knot-hole view of the Internet. It is difficult to determine the amount of IPv6 traffic on the Internet because it depends on where you measure. The estimates and measurements have varied widely, but one thing is consistent; the amount of IPv6 Internet traffic is increasing.
IPv6 Deployment Aggregated Status Read more
Techniques for Prolonging the Lifespan of IPv4
IPv6 proponents have long been predicting the death of IPv4 to get the industry to recognize the importance of IPv6. Although IPv4 address exhaustion has occurred many organizations are still uncertain about the next steps. It is clear that IPv4 is going to be with us for decades to come and there are strategies to prolong the lifespan of IPv4. Are these strategies worthwhile or are they distracting and confusing the industry from moving to IPv6? Read more
5 misperceptions about deploying IPv6
We’ve been very fortunate to have author Shannon McFarland blogging for us as part of our Cisco Subnet community, and he has just completed his list of top five misperceptions about IPv6 deployment. Read more
IPv6 Deployment Misperception: Enterprises aren’t deploying IPv6
And the #1 IPv6 misperception is…drumroll please…enterprises are not deploying IPv6. Uh, no. Bzzzt.
I have read blogs and articles from the so-called industry expert journalists for years as well as vendors (certain folks within Cisco included) and other people that have stated enterprises have no reason to deploy therefore they aren’t. Gee, then these 6-12 customer design and deployment meetings I have had with enterprise customers for the last 9 years have been nothing but a dream. Read more
IPv6 Deployment Misperception: The network team owns the deployment
We are over the hump kids. The No. 2 entry in this series has more to do with politics within the enterprise than it does with technical stuff.
It makes sense that because of where IPv6 falls into the OSI model that the network team would naturally claim ownership of its deployment. It is also true that without the network team building a scalable, available, secure and fast IPv6 environment that all other areas of IT would be ineffectual at best. Read more
IPv6 Deployment Misperception: I have to deploy IPv6 everywhere
The No. 3 entry in this series covers where you need to deploy IPv6, day one. Where you turn IPv6 on day one is usually driven by two factors: use case and time frame. Since IPv6 is just IP and you probably have IP everywhere today, it makes sense that you now need IPv6 everywhere. The reality is that this is not really true, at least not immediately. Read more
IPv6 Deployment Misperception: I can do the minimum at my Internet Edge and get by
As we continue to work through my list of the Top 5 IPv6 Misconceptions, the No. 4 entry is what I call “taking the easy way out” when it comes to deploying IPv6 at your Internet edge. Read more
Miscellaneous Thoughts from the First Day at Cisco Live this Year
As usual at Networkers, my schedule's a little tight to write something thorough about what's come up at the show this week. But even on the first full day of the show Monday, there were a couple of tidbits that came up that I think matter to the Cisco cert world - if not immediately, then sometime down the road. Today I'll give you a few quick hits from what I've heard so far. Read more
Winners of our June giveaway: IPv6 for the Enterprise
Congratulations to these winners of Cisco Subnet's June book giveaway. Each will receive a copy of IPv6 for the Enterprise. Each correctly answered an easy trivia question.
And the winners are ...
Benny Lane, Manuel Medina, Tim Roberts, Dewey Knox, Todd Deaver, Rod Lamb, Shawn Zandi, Ron Watt, Venkat Ganti, Fabian Dilaimy, Eddison Lim, Patrick Watson, Jason Hicks, Craig Kotla, Lou Sneddon. Read more
New IPv6 DNS and BIND Book
I was excited when I saw that Cricket Liu published an update to his popular DNS & BIND book covering the IPv6-specific details of DNS. I rushed right out and pre-ordered "DNS & BIND on IPv6". Enabling your DNS servers for IPv6 is an important step in your Internet-edge IPv6 implementation strategy. This book covers all the pertinent information BIND DNS administrators need to get started with IPv6. Read more
Take our survey: IPv6 readiness in the enterprise
So the days are numbered for IPv4. In writing about IPv6 this year, I've talked to network professionals in all stages of deployment from denial (we have plenty of IPv4 address, what do we care?) to a few who not only have IPv6 websites, but have some IPv6 running on their internal networks. Read more
Two months late, but IPv6 for high-end Linksys router arrives
Cisco has finally released IPv6 support as a free firmware upgrade for its flagship Linksys E4200 wireless router. The promised IPv6 support is late, either by two months, or by six months, or by years, depending on how you look at it, but late is better than never.
Here is the link to download it, quietly made available on June 14. (More on that release date in a minute.) Read more
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