PEER 1 Hosting - Ping & People

What is IPv6?

IPv6 is the newest version of the Internet Protocol (IP) and was designed to succeed the current Internet Protocol, which is version 4 (IPv4).

Is IPv6 Better than IPv4?

In one word, "Yes". The main advantage IPv6 has over IPv4 is a considerably larger number of available IP addresses. In addition to this, IPv6 has many design improvements over IPv4 such as built in security features, improved packet header formats and support for auto-configuration.

What Happens when IPv4 Addresses Run Out?

This will vary between ISPs. As IPv4 address reserves are exhausted, Network Operators will find their ISPs are eventually unable to provide new IPv4 addresses for their clients. We will see a rise in implementation of various transitional technologies such as dual stacking, 4to6 tunneling and Carrier Grade Nat (CGN), which have been designed to ease the migration between the two protocols. Ultimately these technologies are just interim solutions where the only permanent solution is native IPv6 support.

PEER 1 Hosting and IPv6

At PEER 1 Hosting, we are well aware that IPv4 exhaustion could potentially pose a significant business risk to our customers in the future. Thankfully, our IPv4 reserves are in very good shape and our network engineering team has spent the last few years planning for IPv6. We have made significant investments to our network infrastructure, making our backbone network one of the first in North America to provide native IPv6 transit, and are continuing to investigate the best strategies to help our client base transition to IPv6 gradually over time.

World IPv6 Day

On 8 June, 2011, several major organizations, including PEER 1 Hosting, offered their content over IPv6 for a 24-hour "test flight". The goal of the test flight was to motivate organizations to prepare their services for IPv6 to ensure a successful transition as IPv4 addresses run out. Read More