With the growing interconnection of devices and the exponential advancement of the Internet of Things (IoT), the adoption of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) emerges as a necessity to support the continued expansion of the global network. There are several important trends that are beginning to shape the IPv6 deployment landscape and have an impact on sectors ranging from cybersecurity to operational efficiency.
As more countries recognize the urgency of adopting IPv6 to sustain the exponential growth of connected devices, by 2024 we expect to see a significant global expansion in the implementation of this protocol. Governments, universities, companies and various organizations will intensify their efforts to upgrade their network infrastructures, thus ensuring robust and reliable connectivity on an international scale.
In this constantly evolving landscape, we will analyze five key trends that will shape the landscape of IPv6 adoption in 2024.
1. IPv6-only data centers
Today, most data centers operate in dual-stack environments and support both IPv4 and IPv6. However, the trend is that there is an increase in the deployment of data centers that operate exclusively with the IPv6 protocol as a future-proofing strategy. This helps avoid the challenges associated with the coexistence of IPv4 and IPv6 and facilitates integration with native IPv6 services and applications, while at the same time reducing the processing load on network devices, making routing operations more efficient. efficient, especially in high-traffic environments.
Technology giants and cloud service providers have led the adoption of IPv6-only in their data centers, for example, Google, Meta and Microsoft. These companies recognize the benefits of IPv6 and are at the forefront of implementing it in their data centers to meet future challenges, such as the shortage of IPv4 addresses.
Serving the public that is still using the IPv4 protocol and wants to consume the services that are in an IPv6-only data center is entirely possible with the SIIT-DC transition mechanism, so there is no reason not to enable the services of an IPv6-only data center. data so that it operates with a single protocol—IPv6 by default—.
I talk a little more about this topic in the presentation “Path to IPv6-only in the datacenter” held at LACNIC 40, an event that took place in Fortaleza, Brazil.
2. Segment Routing over IPv6 (SRv6)
Segment Routing over IPv6 (SRv6) is an innovative architecture that offers a flexible and efficient approach to routing in IP networks. It allows IPv6 packets to be routed following predefined routes that are known as “segments” and are identified with an IPv6 Segment Identifier (SID). These segments can represent specific functions or instructions for routing the packet. This offers a more efficient and flexible way to control traffic on the network.
The increased adoption of the IPv6 Segment Routing architecture by Internet providers in 2024 is important for the consolidation of an IPv6-only transport scenario, by guaranteeing the possibility of eliminating IPv4 from the network infrastructure, in addition to supporting the needs of emerging services with the 5G mobile telephone network. It is particularly suitable for virtualized and programmable network environments. It aligns well with the evolution towards software-defined networking (SDN) and facilitates the implementation of dynamic policies in virtualized environments.
SRv6 plays a critical role in modernizing ISP networks by enabling them to address increasingly complex challenges and offering a smarter, more flexible approach to routing IP traffic.
3. Transition mechanisms
The need for IPv6 transition mechanisms in 2024 is a direct response to the growing challenges related to the shortage of IPv4 addresses and the increased demand for global connectivity.
In 2024, the transition to IPv6 remains a strategic priority to ensure a robust, scalable and secure Internet infrastructure. To achieve this, transition mechanisms play a fundamental role in this process, since they facilitate the temporary coexistence of IPv4 and IPv6 environments and ensure the transition to a fully IPv6-based infrastructure. Investment in these mechanisms is essential to address imminent challenges and sustain the continued growth of global connectivity.
The choice of mechanisms to use depends on the specific needs of each organization and allows them to maintain connectivity and take advantage of the advantages of IPv6 while managing the transition stage. Among the existing mechanisms we can mention the following:
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NAT64: It is the most used and performs Unicast translation of TCP, UDP, ICMP (RFC 6146). Serves devices that support IPv6 addressing and that want to access a service that is in IPv4. It is necessary to work together with another component called DNS64 (RFC 6147). Unfortunately, systems that have literal IPv4 addresses in their code (for example, http://192.168.0.10/index.php) have their operation compromised.
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464XLAT: According to RFC 9386, 464XLAT is the most popular option in the mobile world. It solves the difficulties faced when using NAT64, as legacy devices or those that do not support IPv6 are given a non-routable IPv4 address as a dual-stack network, thus combining two techniques (RFC 6877). This mechanism requires the execution of a daemon called clatd on intermediate devices or computers on the network. Currently, the biggest challenge is that many CPEs are not yet ready, so mobile service providers would not have as much trouble replacing end users' legacy CPEs to activate this transition mechanism.
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SIIT-DC: It is used when we want to work only with IPv6 in the data center network (applications and servers). It is described in RFC 7755 and provides service compatibility with those still originating from IPv4 addresses. If desired, it can be combined with NAT64 (to correct some situations). Its adoption is growing due to the IPv6-only data center scenario.
As the shortage of IPv4 addresses becomes more critical, the trend is for IPv4 addresses to be used only for IPv4aaS mechanisms. However, we should not get used to transition mechanisms. These have a purpose and should have a short lifespan. To learn more about transition mechanisms, you can consult the presentation “The evolution of transition mechanisms towards IPv6-only networks” held at GTER 52 during Internet Infrastructure Week in Brazil.
4. Operating costs and incentives
As networks grow and evolve, maintaining an IPv4-only infrastructure can become more operationally complex. Operating costs associated with the IPv4 protocol are likely to increase in 2024, especially in cloud environments, and could have an impact given the growing shortage of IPv4 addresses. The result of this shortage is higher costs for organizations that choose to continue operating only with IPv4, as many organizations often resort to strategies such as NAT ( Network Address Translation ) to share a single public IP address between multiple devices. This adds complexity to network configuration and maintenance, especially in large infrastructures, and increases operational burden due to the need to maintain IP address records and subnet management.
An example of this increase is the one announced by Amazon Web Services (AWS), which starting February 1, 2024 will begin charging for IPv4 addresses. The cost will be USD 0.05 per hour and about USD 4 per month. Although it is not a very significant value, it is an initiative that other cloud service providers such as Cloudflare, Google and Oracle should follow.
The growing adoption of IPv6 by network and telecom operators, enterprises, universities and governments could generate financial incentives for the transition in 2024. In addition, some service providers may offer more competitive prices for the IPv6 services they form. part of your portfolio.
An excellent example of an unprecedented incentive is the Open Content Delivery Networks (OpenCDN) project, an initiative of CGI.br and NIC.br whose objective is to contribute to the regional development of the Internet and local IXPs, with the decentralization of the infrastructure and better distribution of content throughout the country. In 2024, the exemption of charges for IPv6 traffic for those participating in the project will be analyzed as a form of incentive and to attract clients who value the adoption of the IPv6 protocol in networks.
5. IPv6 traffic growth
IPv6 traffic growth has been steady lately due to several factors, including increased awareness of the importance of IPv6 adoption and increasing support from service providers and enterprises.
Google's IPv6 statistics website reveals that each year IPv6 traffic increases by around 5%. Therefore, it is likely that by the end of 2024 we will break the 50% barrier of global adoption and reach a point where the demand for IPv4 addresses will decrease and, therefore, so will prices and value of market. An article published by LACNIC titled “Mathematical forecast on the deployment of IPv6” shows that some countries in the three regions of America will exceed 50% of Internet users starting in 2024.
Large Internet service providers and online platforms will continue to lead IPv6 adoption. As more users access the services of these providers, IPv6 traffic will tend to grow. In addition to the increase in traffic, the number of Internet providers offering IPv6 to their end users will continue to grow in 2024. This is demonstrated by the Research on the Internet service provider sector published in TIC Providers – 2022 in December 2023, According to which, in 2022, 64% of providers offered IPv6 to their customers, an increase of 24 percentage points compared to 2020.
Native integration of IPv6 into devices and operating systems is critical for widespread adoption. As new devices enter the market, they tend to have IPv6 support enabled by default. The phasing out of support for IPv4 is inevitable, and this will further incentivize the transition to IPv6.
