The Next Generation Internet Protocol Moves from Theory to Practice

For nearly a decade, the next generation protocol to improve the Internet has been "just two years away." Finally, the future has arrived. Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is ready, it works, and its momentum is starting to build. With huge numbers of users in Asia preparing to go online--along with new Internet enabled devices such as cars and refrigerators--the current, 20-year-old IP protocol is straining under the weight. IPv6 software has begun to ship with operating systems and routers, and anyone who runs a network needs to learn how to deploy it.

"Various impediments to IPv6 growth have been recently removed," comments Niall Richard Murphy, coauthor of "IPv6 Network Administration" (O'Reilly US $44.95). "Organizations are adopting it at an increasing rate, and the US Department of Defense mandating its use has been a big boost. All of this points towards a big need for training and education in the next one to two years, and we think our book will fill a significant need in that timeframe."

Murphy, a specialist in IP services and next generation networking, played a role in getting global IPv6 address allocation policies changed a few years ago, which has helped pave the way for IPv6 to replace the current protocol, IPv4. His book, co-written with mathematician David Malone, so far is alone in explaining what administrators need to do with IPv6 in the real world--how to install it (if necessary), configure it, and use it in day-to-day network activities.