Why do we still need IPv4 when we are migrating to IPv6...

[Anfinsen, Ragnar]

On 18.02.15, 00.29, "Lorenzo Colitti" <lorenzo at google.com<mailto:lorenzo at google.com>> wrote:

Ragnar, what do you expect will get your network to move IPv6-only eventually? You likely won't still be running native IPv4 in 2030. How will you get there?

Very good question, Lorenzo. I am actually not sure yet, but I know we will have to deal with IPv4 traffic for many years to come. IPv4 will not wither and fade away anytime soon, as many will use the addresses in their walled gardens and datacenters.

One of the hurdles we have to overcome, is all the people how still do not understand what IPv6 is, and why we must use it. I am still meeting decision makers who don't think IPv6 is important or "will worry about that later". Due to these people, IPv4 will unfortunately still be around for some time. And as an ISP, we need to make services that delivers the services the customer demands, and as long as any of these services require some sort of P2P like protocols, i.e. gaming consoles, we will supply it. So I guess what I am saying is that as long as someone needs to use the road, we will maintain it. The definition of need is the difficult issue, and we as a community must continue to make IPv6 relevant, and help strongly in the migration of services towards IPv6. I still see many new projects that are not designed to work over IPv6, and I think the major efforts must focus on IoT and devices.

A quick example; A good friend of mine is developing a smart fireplace which can be controlled via API's. He do use a 3. party development company to make the controller and API's. They did not even think of IPv6 until I did my 5 minute speech about the importance of it. This clearly shows that even if ISP's and content providers are moving forward and doing their share, we still have all the inventors and manufacturers which do not think of it at all. Nathalie Trenaman's project clearly show the lack of IPv6 support in devices.

And as long as these guys don't get it, I am sorry to say that we as an ISP still needs to do some sort of IPv4. Yes, most of these services will work just fine on MAP/CGN/lw4o6 but some will not. So the question will then be, are here to earn money by serving the customers what they need/want, or should we ignore that and just be ideologic and say "No IPv4 for you…"?

However, at one point we need to say, "IPv4 is no longer something that is required by <select a sensible number>% of our customer, so we will start to do MAP/CGN/lw4o6". This is a discussion going on internally, and at one point we will make the decision to do something other than native IPv4. I think we will see this change in about 2 to 4 years, but that will require us to continue to promote and discuss IPv6 in the public arena, and help the slow movers to speed up.

/Ragnar