LONDON: A survey, conducted by the European Commission, found that few
companies are prepared for the switch from the current naming protocol,
IPv4, to the new regime, IPv6. Web experts have warned that we could
run out of internet addresses within the next two years unless more
companies migrate to the new platform.

The IPv4 and IPv6
protocols refer to the way in which web addresses are created and
assigned. Each website has a unique IP address, represented by a string
of numbers, such as 192.168.1.1, which are then given a user-friendly
web address, such as telegraph.co.uk, to make them easier to remember.
The
IPv4 protocol uses 32-bit addresses, which enables the web to support
around 4.3 billion unique addresses. By contrast, IPv6 uses 128-bit web
addresses, creating billions of possible new web addresses – experts
estimate it could assign a unique address for every blade of grass on
the planet.

The EC survey found that of the 610 government,
educational and other industry organisations questioned across Europe,
the Middle East and Asia, just 17 per cent have upgraded to IPv6. The
Commission has warned that the timely deployment of the protocol is
vital to the growth and stability of the internet.

“We’ll be
down to our last tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of web
addresses by the end of next year,” warned Sam Pickles, lead enterprise
engineer of F5 Networks.

Switching to IPv6 is relatively
straightforward, said Pickles, but will require significant investment
from companies and internet service providers.

“Some
additional spending will be required to migrate to the new addressing
format, and ensure that systems using the old IPv4 format can interface
with new IPv6 networks,” he said. “Initial installation of new
equipment will most likely affect systems at the edge of the corporate
network, interfacing with the internet, such as routers and firewalls.”

The move to the IPv6 protocol will also necessitate some
changes to domestic set-ups, said Pickles, but it should be a
relatively straightforward process. “Consumers will eventually also
need to replace equipment in the home, although this is likely to be
introduced by ISPs in gradual stages,” he said. “The most likely device
needing replacement initially will be the home broadband router,
connected to the phone line.”