One percent of Internet is now using IPv6

Posted on Sunday, March 28 2010 @ 0:00 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
ARS Technica reports about one percent of the Internet is now using the IPv6 protocol. It's time to move to the new protocol as we're running out of IPv4 addresses. Over 3,026 million are in use and we have just 680 million to go, with 203 million used up in 2009.
This week, the IETF is holding its 77th meeting in Anaheim, California. Last year around this time, the IETF met in San Francisco, and the Internet Society took advantage of this large gathering of Internet engineers to promote IPv6 and tell us that that it's high time to trade in the dusty 1980s Internet Protocol for the shiny 1995 version. Tuesday, the news was that people are actually starting to heed the advice.

Geoff Huston of APNIC, the registry that gives out IP addresses in the Asia-Pacific region, looked at various numbers that could tell us how much traction IPv6 is gaining. One metric that's easy to observe is the global routing table. After all, if you want people to reach your IP addresses, you'll have to tell them what those addresses are so packets can be routed in the right direction. This is done with the BGP routing protocol.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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