Government Computer News
Stocking stuffers
IPv6 gets legs
A year ago, IPv6 was an unfunded mandate; a project offering few short-term benefits and with little in the way of motivation except directives to have the new version of Internet Protocols working on government backbones by 2008.
Today, agencies have begun developing written plans not only for how they will implement IPv6, but how they will integrate it into their core missions. In a recent survey of IT officials, nearly half of civilian agencies see the transition as important to supporting IT goals. The percentage was even higher within the Defense Department, which has had a two-year head start on the transition.
Acceptance of the new networking protocols has not come easily. Agencies have a huge investment in infrastructure, manpower and training in the existing IPv4 protocols on which the current generation of the Internet is based. Despite limitations, the current version is working well enough that many administrators would prefer not to have to move to IPv6, especially because they will also have to maintain IPv4 traffic on their networks for the foreseeable future.
But repeated efforts, often by the networking vendor community, to educate administrators about the potential benefits of IPv6 have begun to bear fruit. A lot of work remains to be done and the transition still poses headaches, as well as opportunities, for years to come. But administrators are beginning to think about how to use IPv6 features such as end-to-end performance, peer-to-peer security, autoconfiguration and improved collaboration.
| |||
| Latest News |  WashingtonTechnology.com |
FCW.com |
|
![1105 Government Information Group [justice]](/images/1105logo_website.gif "Government Computer News [justice]")
© 1996-2008 1105 Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
