IPv6 Adoption. Please respond to the following:

• Take a position on the idea of IPv6 being hailed as the next generation of the Internet. Support your response with evidence or examples.
• Critique the adoption and deployment of IPv6, and determine the security and networking issues associated with this process.

Classmates:

Take a position on the idea of IPv6 being hailed as the next generation of the Internet. Support your response with evidence or examples.

The motivation for IPv6 came as the 32 bit IPv4 address space was starting to become completely allocated. It provides a number of functional enhancements over the existing IP. It is designed to accommodate the higher speeds of todays networks and the mix of data streams that are becoming more widespread. It has become the forefront for network and mobile users using both data and voice by extending an IP address to 128 bits. IPv6 and IPv4 are completely separate protocols and IPv6 is not backward compatible with IPv4. So networks running one of the versions will not communicate with the other directly. IPv6 was used at the 2008 Summer Olympic games and the use of it in that environment was a notable event in its deployment. In 2012, Comcast deployed IPv6 for residential customers who use home gateways

Critique the adoption and deployment of IPv6, and determine the security and networking issues associated with this process.

IPv6 will eventually provide the stable and secure base for the future Internet. However there will be security and networking issues associated with this process. Proper deployment and configuration is a serious issue. Most security incidents are caused by human error, either as a result of programming errors or through misconfiguration. In this case IPv6 is no different than IPv4. The real concern is the lack of experience and training of the IT staff.  To avoid problems, IT administrators must learn a whole new approach to networking, from simple network troubleshooting to configuring firewalls and monitoring security logs. There are many opportunities for confusion and mistakes. IPv6 introduces large network segments which can present challenges. for example, it would take years to scan a single IPv6 /64 block for vulnerabilities, whereas a single /24 IPv4 subnet would only take seconds.

Reference:

McPherson, D. (2011, June 1). 8 security considerations for IPv6 deployment. Retrieved from http://www.networkworld.co