First global scale trial of IPv6 to take place on June 8, 2011
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND and RESTON, VIRGINIA, USA – 15 February 2011 – Comcast [Nasdaq: CMCSA], Time Warner Cable [NYSE:TWC], SoftLayer Technologies and Rackspace Hosting ( NYSE:RAX) today joined the ranks of Internet industry players committing to participate in World IPv6 Day, a global event coordinated by the Internet Society. This first global scale 24-hour “test flight” of the next generation Internet Protocol on June 8 will enable the industry to test IPv6 readiness and prepare for seamless full deployment.
“Network operators of all sorts have been building in support for IPv6, not just websites and content hosting providers,” commented Leslie Daigle, the Internet Society’s Chief Internet Technology officer. “Networks that provide access to millions of end users complete the connection between Internet content and services and consumers of those services. Adding major access and hosting providers who are committed to World IPv6 Day is further illustration of the growing momentum around IPv6 deployment.”
A seamless transition to IPv6 is critical to enable the Internet to continue to grow to connect billions of new people and devices. This opportunity to test IPv6 readiness is a critical step in working to identify areas for improvement. One of the goals of World IPv6 Day is to expose potential issues under controlled conditions and address them as soon as possible. Scheduling the event for a 24-hour period on June 8 gives participants the opportunity to ready their systems for an industry-wide “test-flight” while working together to plan for long-term deployment of IPv6.
“World IPv6 Day is important to further the deployment and wide spread enablement of IPv6,” said John Brzozowski, Chief Architect for IPv6 and Distinguished Engineer at Comcast. “Being able to test our infrastructure at scale and verify our customers’ experience is essential to seamless enablement.”
“We’re working hard to make IPv6 available to our customers,” said Lee Howard, Director of Network Technology for Time Warner Cable. ”All transitions have risks, and we’re glad to be working together to minimize those risks with this significant test.”
“SoftLayer is a hosting provider, but the network is an absolutely essential part of our business. Without a robust network in place, we will simply fail our customers,” said Will Charnock, Vice President, Engineering and Operations, “For that reason, SoftLayer has provided native IPv6 support to our publicly available services since December 2008. World IPv6 Day is an important one for the industry and we are pleased to participate.”
“We look forward to working with World IPv6 Day partners, industry participants and customers to help test and validate IPv6 capabilities and deployments,” said Jason Ackley, lead architect for IPv6 at Rackspace. “Our participation in World IPv6 Day is another step in furthering the industry’s ability to work together to anticipate and solve real-world issues affecting us all while delivering sustainable long-term solutions for Internet growth. ”
The vast majority of users should be able to access services as usual, but in rare cases, mis-configured or misbehaving network equipment, particularly in home networks, may impair access to participating websites during the trial. Current estimates are that 0.05% of users may experience such problems, but participating organizations are working together with operating system manufacturers, home router vendors and ISPs to minimize the number of users affected. Participants will also be working together to provide tools to detect problems and offer suggested fixes in advance of the trial.
For more information about World IPv6 Day, how to get involved, and links to useful information for users, visit www.internetsociety.org/worldipv6day.
About the need for IPv6
IPv4 has approximately four billion IP addresses (the sequence of numbers assigned to each Internet-connected device). The explosion in the number of people, devices and web services on the Internet means that IPv4 is running out of space. IPv6, the next-generation Internet protocol, which provides over four billion times more space, will connect the billions of people not connected today and will help ensure the Internet can continue its current growth rate.
Read what the participating companies are doing to prepare for IPv6 deployment here:
Comcast’s IPv6 Information Center
IPv6 – Preparing for the new protocol
Rackspace IPv6 Roadmap Update
Softlayer and IPv6
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