Re: IP4 Space

[Mark Andrews <marka () isc org>]

In message <201003261157.23601.lowen () pari edu>, Lamar Owen writes:
> On Wednesday 10 March 2010 09:46:19 pm Jim Burwell wrote:
> > On 3/10/2010 16:57, Owen DeLong wrote:
> > > The target really needs to be the CxOs and the management,
> > > especially in places where there is content facing the general
> > > public.  Fortunately, Google, Yahoo, Netflix, etc. get it and have
> > > moved forward with IPv6. Some others are coming along.
>
> > True.  CxOs can basically order it to be done.  
>
> Fascinating thread; thanks to all for the many insights found here; this 
> thread has made my personal archive, just like the other long one did.  I've 
> chosen to reply to this post, because it directly addresses me, in addition t
> o 
> the other two topical posts I just couldn't resist.
>
> So, let me give the insight from the CIO point of view, at least in terms of 
> a 
> non-profit organization.  How do I know this PoV?  I _am_ the CIO here, that'
> s 
> how.  Here's my hypothetical reaction to a hypothetical network engineer 
> coming to me with a good, solid, thorough, and compelling presentation on why
>  
> we need to go to IPv6:
>
> "Hey, great presentation.  Compelling arguments.  But I have one question: 
> will our existing gear that's not yet fully depreciated handle it?  No? Sorry
> , 
> won't happen.  Not in this recession year; grants have been tight, and nobody
>  
> wants to fund this kind of capex right now.  Especially not since it hasn't 
> yet been five years since that previous grant bought some of that equipment. 

What percentage of your equipment already supports IPv6?  Most 5 year old
pieces of equipement already have IPv6 support.  It just needs to be enabled.
  
> No, we cannot afford to forklift upgrade now.

IPv6 is *not* a "forklift upgrade".  It's a parallel deployment that can
be done incrementally one service at a time.  The first step is to get
the bits to you.

> Do whatever you can with what we 
> have.  Or, if we absolutely must upgrade, find the money in the bandwidth 
> budget, and reduce our bandwidth if you have to do so. 

Turning on IPv6 doesn't really affect the amount of bandwith you use.

> Oh, and one other 
> thing: is our ISP supporting this IPv6 thing yet?  No?

You don't need your ISP to support IPv6 to turn on IPv6.  You just need
a IPv4 path to someone who does support IPv6.

> Come back when they 
> do, and when you figure out how to do this with our existing equipment, or fi
> nd 
> the money in the existing budget.  If you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with
>  
> the head of the server group, who says he needs funds for upgrading our serve
> r 
> farm to something called vSphere 4.  Says he can save us a couple of grand pe
> r 
> month in power and cooling costs, and has a plan to use the savings to upgrad
> e 
> our website to something more interactive for our core stakeholders."
>
> Fact: many, if not most, businesses today are struggling to do basic things, 
> at least in my area.  IPv6 migration for many businesses is a desirable, not 
> an essential, thing to do, at least right now, and especially if serious cape
> x 
> is required to do it.  For some businesses, IPv6 addition is more of an 
> annoyance than a desirable.  So, many businesses, in today's economic climate
> , 
> will be dragged into IPv6 kicking and screaming simply because it's going to 
> be, in their eyes, dead cost.  Unless there is either a significant value-add
>  
> or cost reduction in the mid to long term, that is.  Having more addresses is
>  
> not enough.  And thus, ISP's which serve those businesses really don't have 
> sufficient economic reason to expend their own capex budgets down to the bone
> if the demand from their customers is low.  

Most IPv4 only ISPs are already carrying IPv6 traffic.  It's just
encapsulated by one of the early deployment methods. 
 
> At the CxO level, it's all about the money.  Or the lack therof.

Turn on IPv6 should be a $0 cost.  Fully supporting IPv6 on all the services
you offer will have some cost.

> In our case, yes, we're going to add IPv6 when it makes cents to do so.  
> Misspelling intentional; but I do have a plan in place to roll it out quickly
>  
> when needed, in no small part thanks to threads on NANOG and Cisco-NSP.
> -- 
> Lamar Owen
> Chief Information Officer
> Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute
-- 
Mark Andrews, ISC
1 Seymour St., Dundas Valley, NSW 2117, Australia
PHONE: +61 2 9871 4742                 INTERNET: marka () isc org