Push to IPv6 has come: Brocade

27th July 2011
Push to IPv6 has come: Brocade

As time runs out for IPv4, Internet entities are making the switch to IPv6 the next iteration of the Internet Protocol for packed switched networks. Networking solutions leaders like Brocade are evangelizing a timely and orderly upgrade -- suggesting that a last minute dash might set off a mini crisis akin to the Y2K problem at the turn of the last century.
Host operating system support is already available for Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003 for Sun Solaris,
Linux, BSD, Apple Mac OS X v10.2, etc said K. P. Unnikrishnan, Brocade’s Director Marketing for Asia-Pac  during a “master class” for telecom providers and enterprises in Bangalore , Tuesday. Many service providers including Global Crossing (US) NTT, KDDI (Japan), BT (UK), XS4ALL (Netherlands), BELNET (Belgium) and Global Access (Germany), already offer IPv6 connectivity.And network equipment support is in place from leading players like Cisco, Juniper and Brocade.

For example, Hurricane Electric, operators of the world's largest IPv6 Internet backbone and provider of dedicated servers, direct Internet connections, and Web hosting services, has been preparing for years with the help of Brocade for the migration to IPv6 and sees the transition as the most critical component in expanding its business. “IPv6 should be the single most important thing on network operators' minds today. If they are relying on the global Internet, then they need to understand why IPv6 is critical,” said Martin Levy, director of IPv6 strategy, Hurricane Electric.
Meanwhile Brocade has engineered its own website, Brocade.com, to be fully IPv6 enabled, making it one of the first networking vendors to achieve IPv6 web presence with its own proven suite of IPv6 networking solutions. 
Some countries have mandated the change and set deadlines: In the US, a the White House directive requires all U.S. government agencies to upgrade their public-facing websites and services to support IPv6 by September 2012 . The unspoken corrollary is that growing Internet economies like India and China, need to do likewise. Unnikrishnan’s message to Indian providers: Make your transition now, when there is no panic; you will have to deal with both IPv4 and IPv6 –enabled customers for as few years and it makes sense to put in place solutions that work on top of your existing infrastructure to enable a seamless transition. By 2020, some 22 billion networked devices will be in use. 

Our earlier story on IPv6: http://www.indiatechonline.com/end-of-ipv4-address-pool-413.php        July 27 2011