1 – QED – IPv6 Migration Needs

Why migrate to IPv6?

What are the drivers of this change? And why now?

This has been talked about for many years, why don’t we just wait?

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Support for New Services

The adoption of IPv6 is crucial for the support of emerging technologies and services that require an extensive amount of IP addresses, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities, and 5G networks. These technologies rely heavily on the ability to assign a unique IP address to potentially billions of devices, something that IPv6 can accommodate but IPv4 cannot.

Regulatory and Policy Compliance

In some regions, governments and industry regulatory bodies are beginning to mandate the use of IPv6 for certain types of organizations or services, particularly those involved in critical infrastructure or public services. Enterprises operating in these sectors or regions may need to migrate to IPv6 to comply with these regulations.

Reduced Need for NAT

Many organizations use (Network Address Translation) NAT as a way to extend the use of their limited IPv4 address space by sharing a single public IPv4 address among multiple devices. While NAT helps conserve address space, it introduces complexity, potential performance bottlenecks, and can complicate certain types of network communications and applications. IPv6 reduces or eliminates the need for NAT.

Dedicated IPv4 Services

As IPv4 addresses become scarcer, some organizations may resort to purchasing additional services like dedicated NAT devices or proxy services to manage their IPv4 needs. These services add complexity and cost. Migrating to IPv6 can avoid these additional costs by providing ample addresses for direct internet connectivity without the need for intermediaries.

Future-Proofing the Network

Even if an enterprise currently has sufficient IPv4 addresses for its needs, migrating to IPv6 is considered a proactive measure to future-proof the network. As more of the internet moves to IPv6, enterprises that have already transitioned will be better positioned to adopt new technologies, engage with customers, and interact with partners using IPv6.

Costs

The dwindling supply of IPv4 addresses has led to market scarcity, causing the price of IPv4 addresses to increase significantly. Cloud providers, facing their own limitations on available IPv4 addresses, often pass these costs onto their customers. Enterprises with extensive cloud-based operations can thus face substantial costs for using IPv4 addresses across their cloud resources.