Organisations Urged to Prepare for IPv6 Migration
Added 8th Sep 2010Lack of funds--especially during a recession--and lack of awareness for the need to migrate are some of the reasons cited as to why organisations are still reluctant to migrate. Nevertheless, they are urged to start thinking about how to migrate their networks to IPv6 before time runs out.
IPv6 is the next-generation Internet protocol developed to address the shortage of IPv4 addresses. Network engineers said IPv6 has billions and billions of capacity more than IPv4's four billion IP addresses.
One of the companies actively campaigning to prepare organisations for the migration is Verizon. The company has been working on developments and tests of IPv6 addressing for the past decade, said Anthony Recine, vice president of network and communications solutions for Verizon Business.
Verizon said companies, in particular, need to review their internal resources and processes to find out if they are ready for the transition. Hand-in-hand with this internal review is the external assessment, including finding out if suppliers and service providers can help them with the transition.
Recine said companies should make a conscious effort to invest in IPv6 now. As early as now, Verizon said organisations must gain expertise in IPv6 and find out which hardware and software in their network infrastructure are IPv6-compliant.
One of the indicators of compliance is if the products have been verified by the ICSA Labs, an independent division of Verizon Business, that is accredited by the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology to test IPv6 product capabilities.
Impact of migration
Organisations must also determine the impact of migration on their business operations. For instance, organisations which rely heavily on the Internet to reach out to their customers need to make sure that their Internet connection will remain up and running during the transition.
"Organisations need to plan now to ensure that e-mail, Web and business applications will be accessible via both protocols once version 4 runs out," Verizon said in a statement.
Along this line, Verizon advised that organisations should also double check with their service providers if they have a plan in place to migrate to IPv6. "Learn your service provider's timelines for delivering IPv6 coverage, the provider's implementation methods for connecting your business to the IPv4 and IPv6-addressed Internets, and how these methods will affect your business if, for example, you rely on geographical IP reporting or your network transports time-sensitive information."
But as much as service providers need a migration plan, so should the companies themselves. Aside from identifying timelines, the plan should also include a testing phase.
Recine said Verizon is ready to work with their customers to ensure a smooth transition.
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