{"id":437668,"date":"2011-06-07T23:03:53","date_gmt":"2011-06-07T23:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/"},"modified":"2011-06-07T23:03:53","modified_gmt":"2011-06-07T23:03:53","slug":"web-giants-promote-new-ip-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Web giants promote new IP system"},"content":{"rendered":"

7 June 2011<\/span> Last updated at<\/span> 19:03 ET<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The biggest ever test of the internet’s new address system is taking place.<\/p>\n

Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Bing and Facebook are among the companies switching-on IPv6 versions of their websites for the one day trial.<\/p>\n

The technology is gradually being introduced because the world is running out of older IPv4 addresses as more devices come online.<\/p>\n

Companies and home users may need new networking equipment, however the transition is likely to take years.<\/p>\n

World IPv6 day is partly a technical exercise by internet companies to see how the technology works, and partly an awareness-raising initiative.<\/p>\n

For the small percentage of users already set up to access IPv6, they will be able to connect through the usual URLs – such as Google.com or Yahoo.com.<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, their browsers will be pointed to the new, much longer IP address.<\/p>\n

New equipment<\/span><\/p>\n

Groups involved in IPv6 day say that everyone will have to make the change eventually, but users should not worry at this stage if they are not switched over.<\/p>\n

Continue reading the main story<\/a><\/p>\n

Really big numbers<\/h2>\n

IPv4 was conceived in the early 1980s as a way of identifying individual connections to a computer network.<\/p>\n

Its is typically made up of 32 bits, written as twelve digits, e.g. 123.456.789.123.<\/p>\n

That gives a maximum of around 4.3bn addresses.<\/p>\n

However, the rapid growth in PCs, smartphones and other internet connected devices means those addresses are close to being used up, with an estimated 80 million still to be allocated.<\/p>\n

IPv6 is a 128bit system, written in hexadecimal (base 16 counting using numbers and letters), e.g. 21DA:00D3:0000:2F3B:02AA:00FF:FE28:9C5A.<\/p>\n

The system gives a maximum of 340 undecillion possible addresses (1 undecillion = 10 followed by 35 zeros in the British numbering system).<\/p>\n

The additional capacity, argue proponents of IPv6, will be needed to cater to the so-called “internet of things” where devices such as TVs, fridges and home heating systems are connected to the net.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“This is not a year 2000 thing. Planes are not going to start falling out of the sky,” said Philip Sheldrake, a board member at non-profit group 6UK, which is helping to promote the system.<\/p>\n

“The web will continue to work, but future growth would be stymied. It is just like when we used up the phone numbers in London.”<\/p>\n

For users with an ordinary domestic internet connection, the changeover may involve upgrading their hardware.<\/p>\n

“A lot of routers at the moment are already capable of supporting IPv6. What they need is a firmware update,” explained Richard Fletcher, chief operating officer at Plusnet, a UK internet service provider (ISP)<\/p>\n

“ISPs should ship new routers or offer those updates. We are making sure all our fibre routers are ready for IPv6.”<\/p>\n

Mr Fletcher said that the long term nature of the changeover meant that customers of most ISPs would receive compatible equipment through the natural cycle of upgrades.<\/p>\n

The business end<\/span><\/p>\n

Becoming IPv6 compatible is a slightly more complicated task for corporate internet users.<\/p>\n

Bringing their systems up to standard will typically involve investing in and installing new networking systems.<\/p>\n

As with home users, for many this will form part of the normal cycle of upgrading and replacing.<\/p>\n

However, the lack of any firm deadline, combined with the hefty price tag, means that some are dragging their heels.<\/p>\n

“Corporates are probably quite far behind,” said Sebastien Lahtinen from Thinkbroadband.com.<\/p>\n

“They are trying to put off the expense and there are a lot of technologies that they can use to do that.”<\/p>\n

However, Mr Lahtinen said that the leaders of those businesses should realise that this change was going to happen and that they needed to make the investment.<\/p>\n

Even though IPv4 will continue working for at least the next decade, there is value in changing early according to Philip Sheldrake.<\/p>\n

“You have to make the transition. It is better to do that sooner than later because it demonstrates that you are a modern, well organised company that is visible on the modern infrastructure of the internet.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Continue Reading:
\nWeb giants promote new IP system<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

7 June 2011 Last updated at 19:03 ET The biggest ever test of the internet’s new address system is taking place. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Bing and Facebook are among the companies switching-on IPv6 versions of their websites for the one day trial. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-437668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nWeb giants promote new IP system - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Web giants promote new IP system - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"7 June 2011 Last updated at 19:03 ET The biggest ever test of the internet's new address system is taking place. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Bing and Facebook are among the companies switching-on IPv6 versions of their websites for the one day trial.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Web giants promote new IP system\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-07T23:03:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/\"},\"wordCount\":687,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/\",\"name\":\"Web giants promote new IP system - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-07T23:03:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Web giants promote new IP system - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Web giants promote new IP system - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"7 June 2011 Last updated at 19:03 ET The biggest ever test of the internet's new address system is taking place. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Bing and Facebook are among the companies switching-on IPv6 versions of their websites for the one day trial.","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Web giants promote new IP system","datePublished":"2011-06-07T23:03:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/"},"wordCount":687,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/","name":"Web giants promote new IP system - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-06-07T23:03:53+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/07\/web-giants-promote-new-ip-system\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437668\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}