ADDRESSING THE ISSUE
TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR HIGHER EDUCATION TO GET UP TO SPEED ON IPv6
“IPv4 was not designed to do what we’re doing now. IPv6 in the protocol fixes things that we had to do in IPv4. With IPv6, it’s easier to add devices, apply security measures, and apply different services.”
–Bob Stovall, Merit Network’s Vice President of Infrastructure Strategy and Research
IPv6, the second generation internet protocol is steadily gaining steam. At least 40% of US internet traffic now runs on the second generation internet protocol, up from single-digit figures eight years ago — even as prices for older, now-depleted IPv4 addresses rise dramatically.
Higher education institutions in Michigan appear to be taking note. Merit Network in the summer of 2021 looked at the number of requests for IPv4 address space coming from its governing members (Michigan public universities) and saw that the rate had flattened since 2017, when Merit first began planning to launch the IPv6 Readiness Program.
“IPv6 points to the future of the internet,” said Bob Stovall, Merit’s Vice President of Infrastructure Strategy and Research, by improving network management, making network automating tasks easier, adding new services, and building greater security and performance. Whereas IPv4 comes with limitations and is now being forced to do things it was never designed to do, IPv6 makes the network simpler and more nimble at the same time.
It also has the benefit of providing a virtually endless supply of addresses — something any engineer who’s ever worked in address planning and acquisition can appreciate.
IPv6 deployment offers a rare chance to take stock of a campus network and overhaul it for a future where connectivity is paramount (as the COVID-19 pandemic has shown). Merit, one of the world’s longest-running internet players, addressed the situation during its two-year IPv6 Readiness Program to help Michigan higher education institutions adopt IPv6.
For this program, Merit assembled an Advisory Board of leading voices in the community of IPv6 experts. This report, aimed at executive-level higher education administrators as well as network engineers, was produced with guidance from those experts and delivers major points, considerations, and insights from the program, including:
- How to avoid rushing into a costly deployment
- The rapidly rising prices for IPv4 addresses on the open market
- How IPv6 supports a stronger network
- The security, performance, cost, and reputational risks — and opportunity costs — of not deploying IPv6
- History, trends, and data on IPv6 adoption, performance, and outlook
- Why the higher education sector has been slow to take up IPv6
- Valuable tips for planning and starting an IPv6 deployment
- Advice from leading experts in the field
- Important differences between IPv4 and IPv6 address acquisition and planning
“The future expansion of the internet is now (dependent) on the successful global deployment of the next generation of internet protocol, called IPv6.”
— The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
Select program materials can be obtained by sending a request to [email protected].