INET6 required for SCTP in 7.0?

[Andy Dills]

On Wed, 5 Mar 2008, Mark Andrews wrote:

> 	It would be better to remove the option all together.  IPv6
> 	is no longer a protocol under development.  There is no
> 	need to make it optional any more.  Having it there really
> 	sends the wrong signal.

With all due respect, let's face a couple of facts.

IPv4 is going to be the primary protocol for several years to come. There
are a few critical reasons, and few people like to point out just how
naked the emperor is:

- Providing IPv6 currently (and for the forseeable future) provides no
return on investment (ROI). Service Providers can't make more money with
IPv6, businesses do not get any sort of competitive or perceived advantage
from deploying IPv6, and end users certainly don't want to deal with it.

- To route IPv6 with the same features and packet forwarding rate as with 
IPv4, nearly every network will be forced to purchase expensive router 
upgrades with no other real benefit beyond IPv6 connectivity (which again 
provides no ROI to justify the capex). Nobody is going to do forklift 
upgrades just for IPv6, but as routers get normally upgraded IPv6 
functionality will indeed slowly expand.

- IPv6 provides almost no technological upgrades beyond additional address
space. DHCP addressed the auto configuration feature, VPNs addressed
IPsec.

- IPv4 address spaces will eventually transition to a market commodity
model, providing a financial incentive that will encourage significant   
optimization and provide motive for providers to audit their allocations,
and for businesses to part with IP space that they no longer properly     
utilize. The cost of acquiring IPv4 space will be less than the cost of
upgrading to IPv6.

Therefore, given a lack of ROI or sufficient technological motivation, and
given the significant potential for optimization of existing IPv4 space   
both via technology and financial incentive, I see a minimum of five years
before IPv6 is common. 

In the meantime, I'd like to only enable IPv6 on IPv6 enabled networks.

Andy
   

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Andy Dills
Xecunet, Inc.
www.xecu.net
301-682-9972
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