APNIC: switching to IPv6, as it turned out, is not so necessary

According to Geoff Huston, chief scientist at APNIC (Asia Pacific Network Information Centre), the prospects for switching to IPv6 are not particularly attractive due to the changing structure of the network, The Register reports. According to Huston, the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 will not provide fundamentally new functionality – providing a larger address space is an evolutionary step, not a revolutionary one.

During the period of rapid development of the Internet, telecom operators began scaling networks, postponing the transition to IPv6. At the same time, various NAT options made it possible to work in conditions of a shortage of IPv4 addresses, which is why the widespread implementation of IPv6 became less urgent.

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Moreover, the use of the Internet has changed over time. Thus, modern CDNs, which more and more services rely on, are based not on IP addresses, but on domain names. In fact, the network has gradually turned into “pipelines” for data transmission, and the main functionality is gradually shifting to applications. Individual devices and software do not need to communicate directly with each other. In other words, the massive transition to IPv6 is not as important as expected, since modern technologies and architectures make it possible for the Network to function without completely abandoning IPv4.

Source: APNIC

At the same time, the role of applications that have begun to play the role of services is growing. They manage data flows and user experiences more flexibly, without the limitations of traditional networks. While IP addresses will still play an important role in the future, it will become less important as applications take more control over the flow of information.

Source: APNIC

Houston expressed the view that it was time to redefine the Internet as a set of networks that share a common physical data infrastructure, common protocols, and a common address pool. Instead, the modern Web is more like a collection of services that share common referencing mechanisms and a common namespace like DNS.

However, not everyone shares such views. Recently, data appeared on Vietnam’s strategy, providing for a complete transition to IPv6 in the coming years, and China, at the end of 2023, decided to provide all new SOHO equipment with IPv6 support. A year ago, it was reported that the Internet registrar APNIC was finishing delegating the IPv4 addresses of its last /8 block.