Subj : RIPE to run out of IPv4 this week?
To   : Michiel van der Vlist
From : Andre Grueneberg
Date : Sun Aug 05 2012 23:37:14

Hi Michiel

Michiel van der Vlist schrieb:

 MvdV> Then came TCP/IP. Even Novell switched to TCP/IP. And where is
 MvdV> IPX now? Now not even two decades later, IPX is gone for all
 MvdV> intents and purposes. 
 MvdV> IPX/SPX and TCP/IP can run "dual stack" on the same physical
 MvdV> network. But once you have TCP/IP running on all your nodes,
 MvdV> there is no added value in keeping IPX alive.

Good example ... IPX/SPX is still in all those OSs. It's in Windows, it's in Linux ... you can still enable and use it. You and me, we might not know anyone out there actually using it ... but there definitely are people with some really ancient legacy.

It's like at my work ... for some reasons we still have some Mainframes running MVS around. You do not usually realize these dinosaurs are around, but they definitely are.

 MvdV> Something similar could happen with IPv6 and IPv4.

That's the point ... it'll be there for a very long time to go.

 AG>> For a long time, (minimal) IPv4 support will be needed for several
 AG>> transition methods.
 MvdV> why? Once "everyone" has IPv6, what is the added value of
 MvdV> dragging IPv4 along? 

When do you believe this "everyone" will be? When everyone has disposed off his 10 years old IPv4-only printer? When this good "old" embedded thermometer with IPv4 will stop working? There's still people out there developing IPv4 only. These will be mostly internal applications/services, but there's little value in replacing it ... software is cheap.

 AG>>  At least BSDs, Linux and Windows still support hardware which you
 AG>> cannot purchase for 15 years or more.
 MvdV> True. But try to get updated drivers for that hardware. It
 MvdV> usually stops after 5 years.

Well, funny enough the support for this old hardware is built into the OS distribution ... NE2000 drivers are still being shipped ... as part of the OS. I'm not turning to the HW developer, but to my OS developer for an update. And as there's little change, I do not actually need much of an update. For the most of it, I need it to work the way it has been working for the last 10 years.

 AG>> Just see Tore Anderson's presentation at RIPE64 ... I believe he's got
 AG>> a good point.
 AG>> https://ripe64.ripe.net/presentations/67-20120417-RIPE64-The_Case_for_
 AG>> IPv6_Only _Data_Centres.pdf
 MvdV> I'll have a look at it one of these days. I still fail to see
 MvdV> what the added value of maintaining IPv4 is when "everyone" has
 MvdV> native IPv6. 

My point being: This day is far-far away. And for most people Internet means business. Losing 1% of customers can make a huge difference ... at least that was the excuse for slow IPv6 adoption.

CU Andre               E-Mail: andre@grueneberg.de 
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