World IPv6 Launch: This Time It’s For Real

The world will change significantly on June 6, 2012. That’s World IPv6 Launch, the day that, thanks to the hard work of the world’s leading content providers, Internet access providers and home equipment manufacturers, there will be real IPv6 traffic on the global Internet. And, it’s not just for a day — it’s forever.

Having seen content providers pass last year’s World IPv6 Day test flight with flying colours, we turned attention to the next hurdle: what would convince content providers and access providers that it was time to offer IPv6 as part of their “new normal” of Internet business? Content providers don’t need the operational overhead of supporting IPv6 on their services if no one is accessing the Internet over IPv6. Access providers don’t need to offer their customers IPv6 service if there’s nothing to connect to over it. It’s a classic “chicken and egg” situation.

Fortunately, there are some creative souls in the provider world who refuse to be locked in by such a conundrum. The deal is: participating access providers are rolling out IPv6 as part of their regular access offering on and after June 6, AND they will have enough of it in place by that date to have 1% of their network’s traffic to the participating content providers over IPv6.

So, 1% of some networks traffic over IPv6 after June 6 — not huge, from the outsider’s perspective, but still a significant milestone. It’s a base from which to grow. And, if nothing else, we’ve seen that the Internet does love to see things grow, once started.

I’m not going to make predictions of where IPv6 deployment will go next. Clearly, we’re not done relieving the pressure on IPv4 address run out and ensuring the continued ability to have a globally connected Internet. But, with real IPv6 connectivity happening, it’s reasonable and feasible to plan out new networks (e.g., sensor nets) and applications based on the expectation of that global addressing power. And that means we can start to dream up that Killer App to bring it home.

According to organizer Dwayne Williams, roughly 80% of the competitors had heard of DNSSEC before, but less than 10% had ever actually used or implemented it prior to NCCDC. While two of the teams noted that they would like to see simpler, step-by-step instructions for implementing DNSSEC, all of the teams ultimately thought DNSSEC was a technology they planned to look at more in the future.

That’s 1,500 more people who can be out there able to deploy DNSSEC!  And since these competitors are students who will be going on into industry this is excellent news for the future of DNSSEC.

We also understandably liked this part of the quote:

While two of the teams noted that they would like to see simpler, step-by-step instructions for implementing DNSSEC…

That is precisely the type of content we’re aiming to build here for DNSSEC, and our new DNSSEC content roadmap identifies further tutorials we’d like to add.  By the time the 2013 NCCDC event rolls around, these students will be able to find many more simpler tutorials out there!

Kudos to all the 2012 NCCDC teams for working with DNSSEC – and we look forward to learning what DNSSEC challenges will be part of the next NCCDC event.

Since we launched Deploy360 four months ago, we’ve been collecting feedback through comments to this site; through interactions on Twitter, Facebook and Google+; from email sent to our deploy360@isoc.org address; from feedback form submissions; from conversations at various events … and even before our launch from attendees at our two ION conferences last year.

You have given us a great amount of feedback, and we’ve summarized all of that into two “roadmap” documents that outline what we believe we need to add to the site. They can be found here:

• DNSSEC Roadmap for the Deploy360 Programme
• IPv6 Roadmap for the Deploy360 Programme

Now we’d love to hear from you again… have we captured your feedback accurately? Can you see other areas that we need to add? Other topics or tutorials?

How else can we help you with information about how to deploy IPv6 and DNSSEC rapidly?

Please note that these roadmap pages will be “living documents” in that we’ll be constantly updating them as we add items to the site (and remove them from the roadmap), find new items we need to add, and generally get more feedback from you about where you think we need to focus.

With these roadmaps published, we will start adding the listed resources to the site. We will be finding these resources out on the Internet where we can – verifying their accuracy and then reviewing them here on the site. Where needed resources don’t yet exist in a free and open form, we’ll create those resources in conjunction with our partners and volunteers.

To that end, if you know of a great tutorial or article (including one you’ve written) that fits an item on the roadmap, please let us know so that we can consider it for inclusion in the site. If you are looking for a specific topic and it’s not on this site or on the roadmap yet, let us know so we can add it to the roadmap.

Many thanks again to everyone who has given us feedback on the site over the past four months. We’ve been very pleased by the response so far and are looking forward to growing this site to help many more people deploy IPv6 and DNSSEC!

Please let us know how we can help you!

Based on that feedback, this document is an analysis of the IPv6-related content that needs to be added to the Deploy360 Programme website. Each section lists two areas of content:

• Requirements – content that must be added to the site for this section to be “complete” in terms of meeting the section’s education goal.
• Enhancements – content that we would like to add to each section. This content may be added after the required content is complete or if additional funding, staff or volunteers can be found to assist with this content.

This is a living document that will be continually updated and changed as we complete listed items, discover new items we believe need to be added and/or receive feedback from the larger community about items that need to be added or removed from the list.  (And we welcome your feedback on these documents.)

The content listed below will either be curated (i.e. found on the Internet, verified for accuracy and pointed to with a review from the Deploy360 site) or will be created by the Deploy360 team in conjunction with partners and volunteers.

Separate from the content identified here, there is also the need to translate the content on the Deploy360 site into other languages.

Feedback on this roadmap is definitely welcome. Thank you.

DNSSEC Basics

Requirements:

• Intro document – What DNSSEC is, why it matters, etc.
• Information about how to ensure your local DNS server will pass along DNSSEC records
• More information about the role of DS records within parent domains
• Information about DANE and the value it brings
• More information about the business reasons for using the added security of DNSSEC
• Information about how SSL and DNSSEC can work together
• Tutorials for how to use DNSSEC at various registrars (expanding the current list)
• Guidance on DNSSEC key rollover
• Information about establishing a DNSSEC Policy and Practice Statement (DPS)
• DNSSEC RFC review

Enhancements:

• Videos/screencasts of securing and signing your domain using various registrars
• Animated video (Common Craft-style) that explains DNSSEC to regular audience
• Assistance in editing/updating the DNSSEC HOWTO maintained by NLnet Labs
• Marketing-type materials for internal advocates to champion DNSSEC

Case Studies

Requirements:

• Case study (text) with a registry
• Case study with a registrar making DNSSEC available to customers
• Case studies with ISPs deploying DNSSEC-validating name servers
• Case studies with multiple developers of different types of applications

Enhancements:

• Video case studies with all of the above
• Design and publish “deployment scenarios” for DNSSEC that are suited to specific industry segments rather than rely solely on case studies

Tools

Requirements:

• Tutorial on how to add CZ.NIC DNSSEC extension to Microsoft IE
• Tutorial/info about how to configure DNSSEC using
• BIND
• PowerDNS
• Unbound
• Windows 8
• (other servers)

• Pointers to more of the existing videos/screencasts about DNSSEC tools

Enhancements:

• Videos/screencasts of adding DNSSEC extensions to Chrome, Firefox, IE
• Videos/screencasts of configuring DNSSEC using the various nameservers

Training

Requirements:

• Identification of further courseware available for open/free usage
• Further identification of additional train-the-trainer courseware

Enhancements:

• Creation of additional written courseware
• Creation of deployment-focused e-learning / video tutorials
• Ongoing webinar series offering IPv6 education
• Develop and standardize a training package for DNSSEC that trainers and consultants can use as a base for educating their customers

Network Operators (including registries and registrars)

Requirements:

• Guidelines for considerations for supporting DNSSEC
• Include information about whether or not to validate at ISP-level
• Case studies (previously covered above)
• Questions to ask vendors regarding DNSSEC support
• Pointers to databases of DNSSEC-enabled software and services
• Information about DNSSEC automation software
• Tutorial on DNSSEC deployment at the gTLD/ccTLD level

Enhancements:

• Commissioned analyst whitepapers on DNSSEC
• Videos/screencasts related to DNSSEC implementation at operator level
• Funding to assist in adding DNSSEC capability to registry/registrar software

Developers

Requirements:

• Guidelines/best practices for adding DNSSEC support to applications
• Case studies (previously covered above)

Enhancements:

• Videos/screencasts showing use of DNSSEC libraries
• Creation of additional open source test tools and/or libraries

Content Providers

Requirements:

• Case studies
• Information about business case / value in using DNSSEC
• Information about how to work with registrars in signing domains
• Information about using content delivery networks (CDNs) that support DNSSEC
• Information about DANE and other uses of DNSSEC

Enhancements:

• (Same video screencasts as under DNSSEC Basics)

Consumer Electronics Manufacturers

Requirements:

• Case studies
• Information about business case / value in using DNSSEC
• (similar information as with Developers in how to add DNSSEC support to a device)

Enhancements:

• (Same video screencasts as under DNSSEC Basics and Developers)

Enterprise Customers

Requirements:

• More material helping C-levels understand the need to deploy DNSSEC
• Business case / cost benefit analysis support for DNSSEC

• Case studies
• (Tutorials on DNSSEC configuration as referenced earlier)

Enhancements:

• Commissioned analyst whitepapers on DNSSEC
• Videos/screencasts related to enterprise usage of DNSSEC
• Slides / materials to help enterprise advocates promote DNSSEC within their enterprise

Based on that feedback, this document is an analysis of the IPv6-related content that needs to be added to the Deploy360 Programme website. Each section lists two areas of content:

• Requirements – content that must be added to the site for this section to be “complete” in terms of meeting the section’s education goal.
• Enhancements – content that we would like to add to each section. This content may be added after the required content is complete or if additional funding, staff or volunteers can be found to assist with this content.

This is a living document that will be continually updated and changed as we complete listed items, discover new items we believe need to be added and/or receive feedback from the larger community about items that need to be added or removed from the list.  (And we welcome your feedback on these documents.)

The content listed below will either be curated (i.e. found on the Internet, verified for accuracy and pointed to with a review from the Deploy360 site) or will be created by the Deploy360 team in conjunction with partners and volunteers.

Separate from the content identified here, there is also the need to translate the content on the Deploy360 site into other languages.

Feedback on this roadmap is definitely welcome. Thank you.

IPv6 Basics

Requirements:

• Introductory video explaining what IPv6 is all about (created or curated)
• Simplified roadmap for how to deploy IPv6
• Instructions for how to configure IPv6 on different operating systems and mobile devices
• Suggestions to help validate the accuracy of IPv6 capability claims of vendor products
• Pointing to existing lists of equipment known to work with IPv6
• Basic guidelines for IPv6 security (open up a separate section on the site?)
• Information on network planning with IPv6
• Guidelines for IPv6 address allocation planning
• IPv6 routing best practices
• IPv6 RFC review
• How to obtain IPv6 address allocations from the RIRs
• IPv6 diagnostic and troubleshooting tools
• Tutorial on how to set up an IPv6 test lab using tunnelbrokers and other systems

Enhancements:

• Videos of IPv6 configuration on different operating systems and mobile devices
• Video/screencast of setting up an IPv6 test lab
• Pointers and reviews to books/ebooks related to IPv6
• Animated video (Common Craft-style) that explains IPv6 to common audience
• Videos/screencasts related to IPv6 security

IPv6 Case Studies

Requirements:

• Case study (text) with a large ISP
• Case study with a wireless ISP
• Case studies with multiple developers of different types of applications
• Case studies with multiple content providers
• Case studies with consumer electronics manufacturers
• Case studies with enterprises who have moved their networks to IPv6

Enhancements:

• Video case studies with all of the above
• Audio versions of the case studies
• Slide presentation(s) summarizing these case studies
• Webinars with case study participants
• Design and publish “deployment scenarios” for IPv6 that are suited to specific industry segments rather than rely solely on case studies

IPv6 Training

Requirements:

• Identification of courseware available for open/free usage
• Further identification of IPv6 courses available
• Train-the-Trainer courseware

Enhancements:

• Creation of additional written courseware
• Creation of deployment-focused e-learning / video tutorials
• Ongoing webinar series offering IPv6 education
• Develop and standardize a training package for IPv6 that trainers and consultants can use as a base for educating their customers

Network Operators

Requirements:

• Guidelines for considerations for moving networks to IPv6
• Case studies (previously covered above)
• Questions to ask vendors regarding IPv6 support
• Pointers to databases of IPv6-enabled equipment

Enhancements:

• Commissioned analyst whitepapers on IPv6 migration
• Videos/screencasts related to IPv6 transition
• Materials related to IPv6 multihoming
• Maintaining actual database of IPv6-enabled equipment
• Marketing materials to help operators promote IPv6 to their customers

Developers

Requirements:

• Guidelines for migrating applications or services to IPv6
• Case studies (previously covered above)
• Pointers to open source or reference implementations of IPv6
• Pointers to IPv6 test tools and sites
• Tutorials/considerations for operating in a dual-stack environment
• Information about IPv6 transition mechanisms
• Information about use of “Happy Eyeballs” (RFC 6555)

Enhancements:

• Videos/screencasts showing use of IPv6 libraries
• Commissioning of IPv6 shows on existing developer-focused video podcasts
• Creation of open source test tools and/or libraries

Content Providers

Requirements:

• Case studies
• Information about using hosting providers that support IPv6
• Listings of IPv6 hosting providers
• Questions to ask your current hosting provider
• Information/tutorials about using content delivery networks (CDNs) that support IPv6
• Information/tutorials about using relay/proxy services to IPv6-enable content
• Information/tutorials about transition technologies identified in RFC 6589

Enhancements:

• Videos/screencasts demonstrating IPv6 at hosting providers
• Videos/screencasts demonstrating use of CDNs with IPv6
• Videos/screencasts demonstrating relay/proxy services
• Videos/screencasts demonstrating transition technologies

Consumer Electronics Manufacturers

Requirements:

• Case studies
• Information about business case / value in using IPv6
• (similar information as with Developers in how to add IPv6 support to a device)

Enhancements:

• (Same video screencasts as under IPv6 Basics and Developers)

Enterprise Customers

Requirements:

• More material helping C-levels understand the need to deploy IPv6
• Business case / cost benefit analysis support for IPv6

• Case studies
• Practical guide to IPv6 address management tools
• Information about different types of IPv6 address blocks (PA vs PI)

Enhancements:

• Commissioned analyst whitepapers on IPv6 migration
• Videos/screencasts related to enterprise usage of IPv6
• Slides / materials to help enterprise advocates promote IPv6 within their enterprise

Additional Content

The following content was requested at ION events and does not currently have a section within the Deploy360 site.

Enhancements:

• Information about consultants
• Online forum for user discussion at the portal

Based on that feedback, we have outlined the IPv6-related and DNSSEC-related content that needs to be added to the Deploy360 Programme website:

• DNSSEC Roadmap for the Deploy360 Programme
• IPv6 Roadmap for the Deploy360 Programme

These are living documents that will be continually updated and changed as we complete listed items, discover new items we believe need to be added and/or receive feedback from the larger community about items that need to be added or removed from the list.  (And we welcome your feedback on these documents.)

Within each roadmap, the invidual sections lists two areas of content:

• Requirements – content that must be added to the site for this section to be “complete” in terms of meeting the section’s education goal.
• Enhancements – content that we would like to add to each section. This content may be added after the required content is complete or if additional funding, staff or volunteers can be found to assist with this content.

The content listed on these roadmaps will either be curated (i.e. found on the Internet, verified for accuracy and pointed to with a review from the Deploy360 site) or will be created by the Deploy360 team in conjunction with partners and volunteers.

Separate from the content identified here, there is also the need to translate the content on the Deploy360 site into other languages.

Feedback on these roadmaps is definitely welcome.

This event will be co-located with Interop Mumbai, which is one of the biggest business technology events in the region. The ION Conference will spread IPv6 and DNSSEC deployment information to business leaders and technology providers to push the business of technology to new heights.

We’re constantly adding new resources to the Deploy360 site, and one of the ways we figure out what to add next is by talking to you at ION Conferences.We gather industry experts to answer your specific deployment questions and get your direct feedback on what else you need to get started. At ION Mumbai, we’ll provide a mix of high-level strategic discussions, real-world deployment experiences, and hands-on technical training to help you deploy new standards and technologies on your own networks.

If you’ll be attending Interop Mumbai or will be in the area in October, please mark your calendars to join us for ION Conference on the afternoon of Thursday, 11 October. Admission to this half-day event will be included with your Interop registration fee. If you cannot attend the entire Interop event, but want to attend just the ION Conference, send us an email and we’ll help you out with a free pass once registration opens.

Watch this space for more announcements as we get closer to October!

Analysis of IPv6 enabled sites was conducted in March 2012. We have analysed the Alexa Top 1 Million sites and looked for the presence of AAAA DNS records indicating an IPv6 enabled site.

Once determined we then looked at the hosting locations, net block owners, web servers and operating systems in use. The following infographic summarises the results from the analysis.

I found a number of interesting points through the stats, such as the higher percentage of German websites with IPv6. In looking at the list of “number of IPv6 enabled site by netblock owner”, I found it interesting that the top 4 (on the bottom of the chart) seem to be two German hosting providers, a Russian hosting provider and then the Cloudflare content delivery network (CDN) – demonstrating, to me, the value of getting hosting providers and CDNs to deploy IPv6 connectivity.

It’s good that Hackertarget.com conducted this survey in March 2012 prior to World IPv6 Launch on June 6 and it would be great if they do this a month or two after World IPv6 Launch so that we could see a comparison.  We do know, for instance, that the number of sites in the Alexa top 1 million with IPv6-enabled corporate web sites will expand from the four listed here, purely based on the number of sites already signed up to participate in World IPv6 Launch.

Kudos to the Hackertarget.com team for putting this together… (and you can see the larger version by clicking on the image).

Browse more infographics.

 

Here at the Internet Society Deploy360 Programme we are currently taking applications for a summer intern to help us continue building our online content related to real-world deployment information for IPv6 and DNSSEC. This is a communications-focused internship where you’ll be helping the larger Internet community by:

• Creating tutorials about how to deploy IPv6 and DNSSEC tools and services.
• Finding news items related to IPv6 and DNSSEC and writing brief articles about those items for the Deploy360 blog.
• Working with network operators, developers, content providers and enterprises to create written case studies outlining how the organization deployed IPv6 or DNSSEC.
• Finding and reviewing online resources that we can add to our ever-growing repository of IPv6- and DNSSEC-related content

The beauty of this position is that there is plenty of flexibility to incorporate your interests. If you are interested in working with companies to develop business-related case studies – or are interested in writing longer whitepapers, that can be a large part of the role. If you have a passion for creating tutorials, that can be your focus. If you’d really like to create videos or screencasts, we have a place for that kind of content, too. The role can also include some work with web design, site organization, etc. As a small team we have a great amount of flexibility.

The cool thing is that you can see that you are helping people in terms of the comments and feedback we receive as people use the resources we’re developing and pointing to in order to actually get IPv6 or DNSSEC deployed. You’re not spending your summer working on internal projects that you wonder who will ever see. The work we do is public and visible to everyone.

Note, too, that your content, articles, etc., will also be published under your name directly on the Deploy360 site, creating a body of work you can easily reference for future employers or other projects.

A few more details:

• This is a paid 60-day internship that will take place during June, July and/or August 2012, depending upon your schedule.
• The position will be located in our Reston, Virginia, office.
• You will be working on a daily basis with the other members of the Deploy360 team and will be highly engaged via chat, email, etc. This isn’t an internship where you sit at a desk in some basement corner – you will be very much part of the team.

Interested? Here’s how to apply:

• Send an email to “d360intern@isoc.org” with information about your background and why you think you would be an excellent fit for the role.
• In particular, if you’ve done anything with IPv6 (set up a test network?) or DNSSEC (signed a domain?) let us know that. While you don’t absolutely need to have knowledge of IPv6 or DNSSEC, it would obviously be helpful if you do. (And we can guarantee you that you will know probably more than you ever cared to know about them by the end of the internship! )
• Want to impress us? Find a recent article about IPv6 or DNSSEC that we haven’t written about on our blog and send us a writing sample of how you might create a brief blog post reviewing that article. Or go through our site and send some ideas about what we’re missing. Or create a screencast video illustrating one of our written tutorials… anything along those lines that help us see in a real form the kind of content you’d create for the site.
• Above all, show us that you’re passionate about helping take away the pain of deploying these new technologies and helping people learn. We want people who want to make a difference and accelerate the adoption and deployment of open standards!

We’re looking to fill this internship position shortly and already have candidates to consider… so let us know soon if you are interested – the position is only open until we find someone we think is awesome!

This ION Conference will be co-located with Interop in Mumbai, India, on 11 October 2012. ION will provide hands-on training and high-level discussions related to IPv6 and DNSSEC to IT professionals, business leaders, and technology providers.

The best and brightest from the Internet industry will be at ION to learn about the latest news, ideas, and technologies in a relaxed and educational atmosphere.

ION Conference:
Thursday, 11 October 2012

Interop Event Dates:
10-12 October 2012

Location:
Hall No. 1
Bombay Exhibition Center
Western Express Highway
Goregaon East
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Sponsorship opportunities are available. Contact us at deploy360@isoc.org to learn more.