One of the foremost concerns expressed about IPv6 implementation is, “It’s going to be expensive!”
This concern often grows from the idea that to implement IPv6, you’ll have to uproot your entire network infrastructure and replace it with an IPv6-capable one. But this doesn’t reflect reality. Large parts of your network, unless you have been remiss in performing routine periodic upgrades, are already IPv6 capable. All modern host operating systems support IPv6 (Windows XP and Vista, MAC OS X, all the common flavors of Unix). Most router vendors support IPv6; the last time I looked some 48 different router vendors had earned the IPv6 Ready certification, from well-known names like Cisco, Juniper, Alcatel, and Huawei to some decidedly unknown names (my favorite of this second group has to be Tsinghua Unisplendor Bitway Networks).
This is not to say that everything in your network is IPv6 capable—network management and security products, for example, still have some serious holes in their support—only that you are probably further along than you think to being IPv6 ready.
You can significantly reduce IPv6 implementation expenses with a good implementation plan that spans a multi-year timeline. Typically, network equipment and software has a three to five year lifespan, and is depreciated accordingly. If you include IPv6 support as a part of your purchasing criteria as you upgrade network components, you minimize capital expenditures on IPv6. In fact, over the next five years your network will likely become almost completely IPv6 capable whether you plan for it or not. But you are far better off proactively planning for it.
The expenses of implementing IPv6, then, are primarily operational. That is, if you have a good implementation plan your primary implementation expenses are not CAPEX but OPEX—human resources—in the form of training, planning, design, and execution. And with a good implementation plan even these costs can be significantly controlled.
There is one step you should take before diving into an implementation plan, however, and that is to conduct a feasibility study. I’ll talk about the components of the IPv6 feasibility study in my next post.
Network World and I are going to try something new: A live hosted chat in which you can pose questions and I’ll do my best to answer in real time.
Join me for this live chat on August 1, at 2PM Eastern (18:00 GMT). No registration is required; just point your browser to:
www.networkworld.com/chat
I hope to “see” you there!
