Transition Aspects

Is IPv6 worth all the migration and upgrade headaches? Will it ever become the IP of the future? Can’t IPv4 extensions offer all that functionality? After all, we have Network Address Translation (NAT) to solve address space problems and IPSEC to provide security.

The 128-bit address space is the most obvious feature of the new protocol, but it is not the only important change. The IPv6 package includes important features such as higher scalability, better data integrity, QoS features, autoconfiguration mechanisms that make it manageable even for high numbers of dynamically connecting devices, improved routing aggregation in the backbone, and improved multicast routing.

Extensions for IPv4 that have been widely deployed, such as NAT, should be viewed as good solutions but only for limited short-term scenarios. In the long term, nothing can replace IPv6’s features for inherent secure end-to-end connectivity. Multimedia and interactive, transaction-oriented network applications require high levels of connectivity that can only be provided by IPv6. In the future, an unforeseeable number of new devices may want to connect to our networks, including devices such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, smart set-top boxes with integrated web browsers, home entertainment systems, coffee machines, refrigerators, and car devices. The list is endless. Only IPv6, with its extended address space and advanced autoconfiguration and mobility features, can manage such devices. There is no comparable alternative technology in sight.

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