Why IPv6 Matters Right NOW
From multiple wireless devices per person, to massively dynamic virtualization, to the vision for a "smart" energy-efficient home and much, much more, everything in the entire world is becoming “connected” and this is giving rise to the "Evernet".
But this can't happen without transitioning from IPv4 to IPv6 because everything that connects to the Internet has to have a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address and there are a finite number of possible IPv4 address combinations. It is no longer a question of if, nor when, the Internet has run out of IPv4 address space.
In March 2011, the Internet’s governing body, IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) assigned the final five blocks of IPv4 address space to the five Regional Internet Registries (RIR). APNIC (Asian Registry) has already exhausted their final allocation, the four remaining registries will follow suit by the end of the year or early next year.
And because of its complexities, along with an ocean of new business opportunities, the transition is being delayed. Domestically, we are falling behind other countries as we did with network/telco wireless technology when 3G came out.
For those unfamiliar with IPv4 exhaustion and IPv6 uptake, imagine if the US ran out of telephone number combinations. One solution might be to extend the number of digits from 10 to say 40. Metaphorically this is what IPv6, the next generation Internet protocol does.
We started 6connect in February of 2009 as we saw a lack of cohesively planned, Internet infrastructure management solutions for the Evernet. Coming out of the ISP, Colocation, Managed Hosting/Cloud world, we embarked upon “unifying Internet infrastructure” thru a holistic approach and unified view into all things IT and facility related. We realized rather quickly that we were a bit ahead of the game as the markets’ were either interested in more datacenter cooling optimization (immediate pain then) or consolidation or extensions to the cloud (not to mention the ongoing search for the next Google or Facebook.). 6connect focused on tackling one of the fundamental aspects of the transition to the Evernet, the upgrade from IPv4 to IPv6, and specifically the network architecture and IP management automation as our go-to market product strategy.
The challenge, and thus opportunity for investors, is that IPv6 is not backwards compatible. All of the hardware and software associated with the Internet, as we know it, must undergo the upgrade in order to be able to communicate seamlessly with IPv6 addresses going forward. The challenge for investors will be in determining where to deploy capital to take advantage of this massive inflection point. There is a report by the U.S. Deptartment of Commerce estimating that it will take $25-$75 billion to pay for the transition, and that doesn’t even include the ongoing operation of the new standard and this is only in the USA.
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