Pentagon Pushes Next Version of IP
The next version of the Internet Protocol, which provides a 128-bit standard to transmit data, is getting a jump-start for adoption with its endorsement by the Department of Defense. The result: A boost in the number of available Internet addresses, to eventually number as many as an address for every cell in every person on the planet. The DOD is requiring all contractors involved in its Global Information Grid program to support the new Internet Protocol version 6 as of October 1, 2003. IPv6 is expected to replace the current 32-bit IP version 4 (IPv4) for nearly all Internet traffic by 2008. The replacement is necessary because the number of available of IP addresses is dwindling, say the standard's developers. The Internet Engineering Task Force has warned since the mid-1990s that we're running out of available Internet addresses. Already, 170 billion of the 250 billion Internet nodes available under IPv4 are in use, says Latif Ladid, IPv6 Forum president.
While network address translation and other technologies have alleviated this shortage in the short term, available IP addresses remain scarce, especially outside North America, Ladid says. Also, demand is growing. Future Internet applications, including several DOD projects, will require many more IP addresses than the 4 billion available under IPv4.
Unlike the move from IPv3 to IPv4 in the early 1980s, versions 4 and 6 of the protocol will interoperate during and after the transition.
