Challenges Presented by Implementing IPv6 concurrently with IPv4 - Term Paper Example

Challenges presented by implementing IPv6 concurrently with IPv4 Introduction The development and implementation of Internet Protocol version four (IPv4) has supported the rapid growth of internet technologies in the past three decades. This is because IPv4 is simple to implement, robust and interoperable. The design of Ipv4 is a 32-bit address space. This allows IPv4 to accommodate over 4 billion unique addresses. This number sounds substantial. However, due to the rapid growth of internet and related technologies, the number of unusable internet protocol (IP) addresses has been reducing. There was a problem of the eminent exhaustion of IPv4 space, complexities of configuration and the different security issues that were associated with IPv4. To overcome the above challenges presented by IPv4, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) developed Internet Protocol version six (IPv6). This uses a 128 address space ad would support different unique addresses to the tune of trillions. It was envisaged that IPv6 would eliminate the security issues associated with IPv4 and also present new features and opportunities for the internet community. This paper discusses the challenges of implementation of Ipv6 concurrently with IPv4. Development of IPv6 The rapid decline in the number of available IP addresses is not surprising. This is based on the fact that new devices are being connected to the internet. Some of these devices are not even computers but are integrated with microcomputers to help them connect to the internet. Such devices include security systems, television sets and cameras among others. With this development, it was expected that IPv6 would be implemented fast enough to help in overcoming the challenges that were presented by IPv4. However, there has been some considerable slowness in implanting IPv6 across networks with different deadlines set for its implementation coming and going. The slowness in implementation is not attributed to any hardware or software issue. This is because most of the current computer hardware and software are compatible with IPv6 (DeNardis 131). Reasons for IPv6 One of the main reasons advanced for the need of IPv6 addresses is that it supports dynamic routing and end to end computing. Dynamic routing is different from static routing from the sense that in static routing, permanent IP addresses are assigned to devices on a network while in a dynamic routing, IP addresses are assigned based on need. This means that dynamic routing that is supported by IPv6 uses fewer IP addresses. Another reason for IPv6 is its mandatory support for IPSec; this is the security protocol deployed for internet applications. IPSec can also be used by IPv4. Furthermore, the fact that IPv6 supports back to back connectivity, it allows for rerouting of information to determine the source of traffic. This is a feature that IPv6 has that has improved its security by eliminating attacks and simplifies the process of IP identification (Zhang 565). IPv6 is also easy to implement and use. This is due to the fact that it can easily configure itself and connect easily to the network. This makes the job very easy for network administrators as they do not have to waste much time configuring the networks. IPv6 has an additional feature that increases its robust nature while eliminating the complexities of routing. This is due to the feature that reduces the number of routes (Zhang 567). Challenges presented by implementing IPv6 concurrently with IPv4 One of the challenges that may be experienced in such implementation is security. Even though IPv6 has better security features, security is a problem because of the complexity of implementing such a system. The security challenges include preventing attackers who have more experience than the information technology department of an organization during the initial stages of concurrent implementation of IPv6 and IPv4. Security exists also I the context of the difficulty in ascertaining unauthorized access on the existing IPv4 network. Other security challenges include inadequate maturity of IPv6 security products when compared to the security vulnerabilities of IPv4; explosion of IPv6 transition drive tunnels. These tunnels even if they are properly organized, they complicate defenses at the boundaries of networks (Blanchet 345). Another challenge is the fact that IPv6 is not backward compatible with IPv4. The meaning of this is that IPv6 header, the control and addressing fields that accompany information while the information is being conveyed across the network has its own set of fields and structures of formatting. When a device deployed in IPv6 receives information using IPv4 formatting, the two devices cannot mutually communicate; the devices need some form of technical translation to enable the communication to be effected. The technical translation includes the translation of bit sizes from the 32 bit existent in IPv4 to the 128 bit used in IPv6 (Horak 643). In a situation where an IPv6 only device tries to communicate with an IPv4 only device, then there needs to be implementation of either IPv6 and IPv4 protocols or implementation of other technical transition or translation measures to ensure that the communication is effective. Transition to IPv6 requires additional software updates for the host computers. Such transition also requires more training for the staff that will be using the new protocol. The third challenge which is based on the second challenge is the fact that an IPv6 only device cannot be able to communicate to an IPv4 only device. This means that a computer connected to an IPv6 only network cannot connect to an IPv4 web server. To illustrate this example, then the following scenarios may be considered. If a website like cia.com does not have IPv6 support, then users accessing such a web site from an IPv6 network cannot have access to the web site. The problem comes from the fact that most of the websites may still be based on the IPv4 platform for the coming years (Brown and Parenti 261). There are some techniques that have been implemented to extend the life of the current IPv4 addresses. Some of these mechanisms include Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Network Address Translation (NAT) and Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR). NAT allows different devices on a local network to share private addresses within the network while sharing one global IPv4 address for external communication with other computers and devices. While this strategy has delayed the exhaustion of IPv4, it has increased the complexities of bi-directional communication. This complexity is reduced by the end-to-end security provided by IPv6. However, these strategies while they are implemented in a network, they fail to meet the requirements of peer-to-peer applications and internet’s end-to-end architecture. Another challenge presented in this is that broadband internet requires always contactable global addresses. This means that the addresses need to be always on. However, the above conditions are not fulfilled with the current conversion strategies or other temporary techniques for IP address allocation (Blanchet 346). The immediate costs associated with such deployments are high. This is based on the cost of equipment and software that are needed to support IPv6. The costs even become more expensive for organizations because the intended benefits are long term making organizations to invest a considerable amount of capital in such ventures yet wait for long before they can recoup their investments. Conclusion In conclusion, the advancement of internet technologies has reduced the number of available IPv4 addresses. This scenario has led to the development of IPv6. The implementation of IPv6 over corporate networks has received some challenges. The main challenge considered is the issue of security. It is important that more research be done to determine the best way in which IPv6 networks can be implemented concurrently with IPv4 networks. Works Cited Blanchet, Marc. Migrating to IPv6: a practical guide to implementing IPv6 in mobile and fixed networks. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2006. Brown Sam, Parenti Edgar. Configuring IPv6 For Cisco IOS. New York: Syngress, 2008. DeNardis, Laura. Protocol politics: the globalization of Internet governance. Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2009. Horak, Ray. Telecommunications and data communications handbook. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2007. Zhang, Randy. BGP design and implementation. New York: Cisco Press, 2009. Read More