The end is very, very near— the IPv4 end, that is.
The last days of IPv4 availability are upon us. The problem’s no longer off in the distant future and it’s not something that can be dealt with later. It’s a sure thing and it’s happening.
APNIC has been out of IP addresses for years. RIPE ran out of addresses last year. ISPs and other organizations in Europe and Asia that need IPv4 addresses are now buying them on the open market — and we’ll start to see the same in the US very soon.
ARIN is now in stage three of a four stage countdown plan. Stage three went into effect in August of 2013 when two /8s equivalents remain…and currently 1.26 /8s equivalents are available. Stage one, the final stage, comes into effect when the IPv4 space is at a one /8 equivalent.
Granted, those that need IPv4 are using workarounds like reclaimed addresses. But these and the other short-term fixes — including reusing IP blocks from defunct ISPs, recycling blocks and using carrier-grade network address translation — are the equivalent of sticking a finger in a dam that’s spouting more holes by the hour.
Forward thinking ISPs and content providers, who are major players in the industry, have been working on plans to transition to IPv6. Is your organization ready for the impending switch to IPv6? It’s going to be a messy changeover.
Consumer electronic companies, computer manufacturers and mobile device makers have all had time to implement and get more IPv6-compatible gadgets into the wild. However, there are many devices that only work on IPv4 networks. It’ll be a long time before we live in an IPv6-only world.
If you think you’re in danger of being left behind, contact Host Virtual. Talk to us and get started on your transition with our dual IPv6 and IPv4 stack that can handle both kinds of addresses.
All of Host Virtual’s services, from the API, to the control panel, to the dual IPv6 and IPv4 stack are all developed and maintained in-house. We have the flexibility to respond to the requests and needs of our customers quickly and without needing to wait for a third party developer.
Host Virtual and our customers are IPv6 ready, and ready to handle legacy IPv4 addresses — are you?
To test our dual-stack IPv4 and IPv6 robust network from 16 locations, check out our network looking glass tool.