I was reading a news article on IPv4 depletion -- an issue far too few understand, in terms of dire consequences to the daily lives of anybody surround by networked and Internet-connected gadgets. What I fail to understand is why this turned into such a mess. I've seen computer software that does some pretty amazing automated translation tasks, so I don't exactly understand why IPv4 to IPv6 had to be so hard.
What is IPv6? What's IPv4?
A modern IP address comes in this form: 123.456.789.101
Or 1.1.1.1, or 22.22.22.22, or any combination of 1-digit, 2-digit, and 3-digit addresses. (1.22.333.4, for example)
IPv6 comes in hexadecimal, instead of numeric. And it's 16 characters long.
For example: A0B1:C2D3:E4F5:A6B7:0000:0000:0000:0000
I'm reminded of the Bank of America merger with NationsBank in 1999. All Bank of America 10-digit account numbers had "00" added as a prefix, to match the 12-digit length of NationsBank accounts. So an account of 1234567890 became 001234567890. Why can't this be done for IPv4 to IPv6 transition?
My suggestion:
Assign a prefix or suffix space, and dump all IPv4 there. Then any router request getting outdated numeric range requests can translate this easily, by attaching the proper prefix/suffix after hexadecimal conversion.
In the interim, use a reserved IPv4 range as a translation layer for IPv6 requests, so that IPv6 use can begin now. All IPv6 requests would be routed to this otherwise invalid IPv4 range. Yes, this may require a two-part request, numeric first for the IPv4 routers/switches, followed by passed IPv6 request (via tunneling requests).
At some point in time, have a cut-off date for datacenters, ISPs and other providers -- similar to the analog broadcast cut-off. IPv4 pre-requests would end, and IPv6-only requests would take place, with outdated IPv4 requests being translated.
Some of this seems to already be in place, or at least a variation thereof.
Design flaw?
I come across quotes like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6
Quote:
IPv6 specifies a new packet format, designed to minimize packet header processing by routers. Because the headers of IPv4 packets and IPv6 packets are significantly different, the two protocols are not interoperable.
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To me, that sounds like a design flaw. Yes, in theory, less/smaller packets sounds great. But in reality, it's turned into little more than a technological boondoggle, from everything I've observed. Something that was already challenging was made harder. Granted, this is NOT my area of expertise.
Curious if anybody else has comments about this fiasco?