A need to upgrade the currently used IPv4 has been felt for quite some now to handle the wildfire like growth of the network. But experts have tried to justify their refusal to adopt IPv6 by taking support from some preset misconceptions. It is high time that we cleared our minds of these misplaced notions because due to the rapidly growing network we are soon going to fall short of IPv4 addresses.
Amongst the biases the following are the biggest misconceptions that have been doing rounds recently:
Black Marketing of IPv4 Addresses – There is a fear that the introduction of IPv6 will trigger black marketing of IPv4 addresses. In the views of the experts, in anticipation of the rise of this problem, the regional Internet registries have devised legal ways of transferring and selling the unused IPv4 addresses. It is feared that this problem may catch the experts off-guard because not much is being done by the IT departments and vendors towards this. A new policy is being considered by the regional Internet registries that will allow the transfer of IPv4 addresses. One more instance in this case is the step taken by ARIN that has announced that it would make sure that the addresses are used to provide network services and are not hoarded for future use or for black marketing.
IPv6 believed to be more secure – A myth goes around that IPv6 is more secure than IPv4. The reason why this is assumed is that IPv6 was designed with a view to implement the IPsec much more efficiently. But this doesn’t make sure that IPv6 is in itself more secure.
Adoption of IPv6 not yet required – Most of the companies have not yet made any move towards starting development work on IPv6. No amount has been laid aside for investing on this project. A large number of the experts are under the impression that the introduction of IPv6 can be delayed as there is no urgency for its adoption.
IPv4 addresses still available in large numbers – Another misconception is that the IPv4 addresses are still available in plenty. Our thinking whether IPv4 is fast running short of addresses depends on the place where we live and how fast is the rate of growth of the network. A huge shortage in IPv4 addresses has been predicted for the present year. Chris Davis, senior director of corporate marketing communications at NTT America (a leading provider of IPv6 transit and access services in USA), has called this depletion of IPv4 free address pool as a wake-up call.
Internet will be more simple with IPv6 – It is believed that IPv6 will make using Internet much more simple as its introduction will lead to discontinuation of usage of Network Address Translation (NAT) and also the removal of middle boxes, which were being used earlier to prolong the life of IPv4 addresses. But little do they realize that for some time IPv4 and IPv6, both the versions will be put to use simultaneously.
Lucky ones will get hold of the remaining IPv4 addresses – The IANA has already used all the IPv4 addresses in the month of February. Now the remaining addresses will be transferred by the regional Internet registries. According to estimates, the African registry, AfriNIC, is expected to finish last with these addresses. A one-time allotment policy will be followed. The last IPv4 addresses would be shared with multiple users.
