 |
|
| technology > computing |
![[CNN Money]](http://i.cnn.net/cnn/images/main/fn.logo.newsnet.gif){kind=logo}
![[SI.com]](http://i.cnn.net/cnn/images/main/si.logo.gif){kind=logo}
( | |
 |
|
| |
| |
EDITIONS: | |
MULTIMEDIA: | |
E-MAIL: |
Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists. Enter your address: |
DISCUSSION: |
CNN WEB SITES: |
 |
TIME INC. SITES: |
CNN NETWORKS: |
|
SITE INFO: |
WEB SERVICES: |
Cisco embraces IPv6
|
(IDG) -- Cisco Systems, the leading provider of Internet routers, this week affirmed for the first time that its software and hardware products will support IPv6, an enhanced version of the communications protocol that underpins the `Net.
Cisco says it will support IPv6 in version 12.1(5)T of its IOS software, scheduled to ship in October. Later versions of IOS will provide advanced IPv6-related features and improved performance, and future hardware platforms will support IPv6, according to Cisco chief technology officer Judy Estrin.
"Cisco is committed to IPv6, but we're committed to integration, not transition," said Estrin, who made her remarks at the IPv6 Global Summit here. The summit is sponsored by the IPv6 Forum, a group of 80 companies and research institutions promoting the IPv6 standard.
| MORE COMPUTING INTELLIGENCE |
IDG.net home page
|
| Sneaking IPv6 onto the Internet |
| Do we really need IPv6? |
| Migrating to IP |
| IP phone or Internet phone? |
| Reviews & in-depth info at IDG.net |
| E-BusinessWorld |
| Year 2000 World |
| Questions about computers? Let IDG.net's editors help you |
| Subscribe to IDG.net's free daily newsletter for network experts |
|
Search IDG.net in 12 languages |
| News Radio |
Fusion audio primers
|
|
Computerworld Minute
|
In a frank talk to about 150 Summit attendees, Estrin urged the IPv6 community to come up with tools and management techniques that allow network managers to integrate IPv6 with IPv4, the Internet's current communications protocol.
"We must bring in IPv6 side-by-side with IPv4," Estrin said, using the analogy of two streams merging together to create a more powerful river. Still, she pointed out that it will be a "long path" for the Internet industry to migrate to IPv6.
Developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force, IPv6 offers several benefits to corporate network managers over IPv4. IPv6, which uses a 128-bit addressing scheme, supports a virtually limitless number of uniquely identified systems on the `Net, while IPv4 supports only a few billion systems because it uses a 32-bit addressing scheme. IPv6 also offers easier administration and tighter security.
However, migrating to IPv6 is an expensive and time-consuming proposition. Few IPv6-compliant products are shipping, and ISPs have been slow to support the standard.
Estrin said Cisco has seen a growing interest in IPv6, and that is why the company is committed to making its products IPv6-ready. "In the last six months, we have started taking a different approach on this," Estrin said, pointing out that Cisco is broadening from IPv6 research to IPv6 product deployment.
Estrin cited the following trends as driving the need for IPv6:
"The current IPv4 infrastructure is stretched," Estrin said. "The larger address space [in IPv6] offers advantages and efficiencies. But we must have implementation methods that ensure smooth integration of IPv4 and IPv6."
Estrin said the challenges to IPv6 deployment are not technical, but rather the education of end users and the development of a business case for the technology. "We must not harbor the illusion of a killer application," she said.
In an interview after her speech, Estrin said only a handful of Cisco's enterprise customers have asked about IPv6. "Users don't know that they need it," she explained. "I don't think the industry has done a very good job of explaining the cost/benefit analysis of going to IPv6."
Despite the views of some in the Internet engineering community that IPv6 will never happen, Estrin said that Cisco believes the technology "will get deployed. It will start with new applications such as wireless, but over time we will see it move into the enterprise."
RELATED STORIES:
Sendmail adds IPv6 support
February 11, 2000
Protocol helps stretch IPv4 addresses
Januray 20, 2000
New protocol sneaks IPv6 traffic over the 'Net
November 16, 1999
Microsoft stalls IPv6 progress
August 31, 1999
RELATED IDG.net STORIES:
Do we really need IPv6?
(Network World Fusion)
Sneaking IPv6 onto the Internet
(Network World Fusion)
Protocol helps stretch IPv4 addresses
(Network World Fusion)
Keeping IP voice alive even when the power dies
(Network World Fusion)
Addressing the shortage
(Network World Fusion)
New protocol connects voice over IP
(Network World Fusion)
Migrating to IP
(Network World Fusion)
IP phone or Internet phone?
(Network World Fusion)
RELATED SITES:
IP v6
Internet2 Web Site
Internet Engineering Task Force
Note: Pages will open in a new browser windowExternal sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.