ESnet Celebrates World IPv6 Launch
Happy World IPv6 Launch!
On Wednesday, a new Internet began. The change was subtle, but a new address system is making the the web faster, and enabling us to do things that were not possible until now. The "thing" is a new ID system for the Internet, called IPv6.
Every device online requires a unique address, like a phone number. It looks like this: 199.181.132.250, and it's called an IP Address - IP for "Internet Protocol". When the founding fathers developed the system, they created a pool of numbers greater than the population of the world at the time (4.3 billion combinations). But over the last several years, the Internet has been running low on numbers, as the number of "connected" devices swelled to include smartphones, televisions, security cameras, utility meters, car sensors, etc.
The new system, called IPv6 is good for 340 trillion, trillion, trillion addresses.The next time you visit Google, Amazon, Facebook, and other major sites, they will be using it. Smaller businesses will convert slowly because it requires investment in time and equipment. You might see a message that says your browser is not set up to use the new numbers. Fear not. The two versions will coexist for a while longer.
"The main thing that we're going to get out of IPv6 adoption is that we get to keep the Internet as we know it. We're not going to run out of address space, and the Internet will continue to be a platform for innovation of new services," said ESnet's Eli Dart.
This story was originally published on San Francisco's ABC affiliate, KGO-TV, website. See the entire story here.
ESnet Engineers Spread the World About IPv6
In addition to televsion interviews, engineers at ESnet also celebrated IPv6 day with a number of informative blog posts, as well as a new dashboard that tracks the status of IPv6 deployment across its sites. This page is updated based on summary of tests performed by a v6 connected host within ESnet.
ESnet blogs:
Mike Sinatra discusses the Risks of not deploying IPv6 in the R&E Community.
Inder Monga unveils a new dashboard showcasing the status of its IPv6 connected sites.
More IPv6 videos:
Our policy board member, Vint Cerf, also released a compelling video on why we need IPv6, a must-watch.
ESnet’s resident IPv6 Expert Michael Sinatra defines IPv6:
