Is IPv6 Finally Gaining Ground?

W hen the Internet Engineering Task Force approved Internet protocol version 6 several years ago, proponents acclaimed it as a major development. Since then, IPv6 (see the sidebar " IPv6 Primer ") has received support only in some areas. In Asia, for example, the profusion of smart cellular phones and PDAs has caused the demand for IP addresses to outstrip the limited supply provided by IPv4, the previous Internet protocol version. Meanwhile, equipment and OS vendors have just begun supporting IPv6, as have manufacturers of devices using wireless and embedded technologies. However, there is relatively little support for IPv6, particularly in North America, from the Internet service providers (ISPs) and network administrators who would use the protocol and thus are key to its success. Industry observers say the lack of support is partly due to the cost and effort required to migrate to IPv6, as well as the protocol's shortcomings and a perceived lack of need for the standard's advantages. Some engineers contend that because IPv6 represents such a major change in Internet technology, widespread adoption will take years. IBM Distinguished Engineer Brian Carpenter, who has studied IPv6, said, " I have always looked at this as a 15-year process starting in 1995. " LOW ADOPTION LEVEL IPv6's current adoption status is a study in contrast between initial vendor support and a lack of deployment by ISPs and network administrators. To support IPv6 in their products, vendors generally add software. However, some equipment, such as high-speed routers with hardware acceleration, also needs hardware upgrades. To work optimally, IPv6 requires support throughout a network, in various types of hardware and software, including routers, switches, firewalls, applications , and operating systems. In 1997, IBM became the first Unix equipment and software supplier to offer an OS with a TCP/IP stack that supports IPv6 applications, in this case for the RS/6000 server. IBM recently provided IPv6 support for OS/390 servers and plans to add it for Linux, OS/400, and other systems. Cisco Systems has released IOS (inter-networking operating system) routers that support IPv6. This could be important to IPv6's future because, said company spokesperson Mia Bradway, Cisco routers carry 80 percent of the Internet's backbone traffic. Microsoft has released a developer's IPv6 technology preview for Windows 2001 SP1 (Service Pack 1) and included IPv6 in the beta version of Internet Explorer bundled with Windows XP. These Microsoft IPv6-enabled development stacks are also potentially …