New advocacy group to drive next-generation IP protocol

The IPv6 Forum, which counts among its founding members MCI WorldCom, has a simple goal: to educate people about and promote awareness of Internet Protocol Version 6.

The group, which will be announced this week, wants to show off the benefits of this technology, including end-to-end security, quality of service and support for embedded devices (see Scoop, this page).

IPv6 is the next iteration of the Internet communications protocol.

"The biggest detriment to IPv6 has been ignorance" on the part of vendors and users, says Latif Ladid, forum president and head of Telebit Communications in Denmark. He admits that switching over from current IPv4 implementations will take time, but he says it's better to do that now, before IPv4 begins to fail. Already IPv4's limitations are inhibiting the rollout of security on mobile devices because they require unique IP addresses, of which IPv4 is running low.

So far, 37 companies have signed on to participate in the forum, including such heavyweights as 3Com, Cisco, Microsoft, Nokia, Sprint, Ericsson and Nippon Telephone and Telegraph.

To join the forum, companies must pledge to create IPv6 products and support the technology's widespread adoption.

The forum expects to see IPv6-enabled products, such as IPv4 to IPv6 transition applications and router upgrades, make their way into user networks as early as next year.

The forum will be working in tandem with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), which will meet later this month to work on the IPv6 protocol and a transition strategy. "The IETF working group's charter is to set a protocol," Ladid says. "Once that work is done, the group is folded." The forum will be a consistent advocate for IPv6 in the marketplace, while the IETF continues to tackle the technology issues.

The IETF has already tried to generate momentum for the protocol but to no avail. Except for research test beds, such as the 6bone network that vendors are using to test interoperability, the protocol has seen little use. Instead, users have embraced workarounds for IPv4, such as IP Security, Multi-protocol Label Switching and Differentiated Services. And, if users aren't beating down the door for services, vendors are hesitant to invest the time and money to develop the gear.

3Com CEO Eric Benhamou says his company has developed IPv6-enabled products, "but customers haven't turned [IPv6] on." He says the killer application for IPv6 will be mobile devices. Today's IP address space is too complicated to support mobile users, he says, so companies need to move to IPv6.

Ladid agrees, adding that the lure of IPv6 will prove too great for even reluctant users. There are applications that can't be rolled out because of IPv4's limitations.

For instance, with IPv6's built-in quality of service, network managers will be able to automatically and intelligently allocate bandwidth so that users only pay for what they use.

IETF Chair Fred Baker says the switchover won't happen overnight. Instead, users will have to run parallel operations for at least a few years.