WHAT THE HELL IS IPv6 AND WHEN WILL IT DESTROY YOU?
May 4th, 2008 Posted in General Domain News
Well folks, I’m going to sidestep the domain basics for a moment to ask a question about something you may have heard of but know nothing about. It seems like the oddball powers that be are hard at work to replace the IP addresses that make up your valuable domain names. Or are they? Who the hell knows?!! Seems like nobody. I did some research on this little funky name “IPv6″ and I got all sorts of “explanations” or “definitions”.
As I was casually perusing my future trend emails, I came across this little tidbit of doom… maybe a BIG JUGGERNAUT of doom, as in Black Sabbath style. http://inventorspot.com/articles/the_end_of_the_internet_switching_ipv6_12803
So, I admit I’m not an admired techie nerd, but I did investigate. I don’t profess to know what the heck they’re talking about, except a lot of “techie types” seem to be mumbling around real secretive like. When I see reticent gobbledegook floating around the net, I get paranoid easy, which allows me to conjure up amazing conspiracy scenarios that occupy my mind needlessly. This is better than watching NASCAR or Fox News. However, this IPv6 thing is so scattered I can’t get a good fix on it to start forming neurotic anxieties about it.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=367
I tried to discern more information about this IPv6 situation, and what is reportedly the MOST VISITED PAGE ON GOOGLE EVER… but guess what, that page http://ipv6.google.com is no longer up. Or, if you don’t have your computer gadgetry programming atomic particle separator neutron diffusion system set up, you can’t access the page. However, this website says the page is NO LONGER UP!
http://holtsblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/google-and-ipv6.html
If anyone has an expert view of what IPv6 is and what kind of future it offers domainers, please comment here! Let the paranoia begin!
4 Responses to “WHAT THE HELL IS IPv6 AND WHEN WILL IT DESTROY YOU?”
By Scott on May 4, 2008
IPv6 is basically a replacement for IPv4 (the current version of Internet Protocol) with a much larger address space (128 bits vs the current 32 bits). Expressed in decimal notation (which it usually isn’t) an IPv6 address would look like 4 IPv4 addresses typed end-to-end. Why? Because we are running out of IP addresses. More devices and more people on the the Net means a greater need for IP addresses. Just like cell phones and faxes have driven the need for new area codes. NAT and other technical advances have put off the day we run out, but it’s still coming.
To nit pick, IP addresses do not “make up domain names.” Domain names (people friendly) are translated into IP addresses (computer friendly) via DNS. Under IPv6 There will still be a system of Domain Name Servers doing this translation. There will just be a vastly larger number of IP addresses to go around.
Bottom line? I don’t see any direct impact on domainers one way or the other. But hey, I could be missing something.
++++STEPHEN DOUGLAS SEZ+++++
Hi Scott,
Excellent update on my post… thanks for the technical details. I think most of my paranoia, and hopefully any of my readers, has dissipated. However, we’ll be coming to you when everything collapses.
By Scott on May 4, 2008
I think you may have misunderstood what they were saying. They were saying that google.com itself is the most visited page on the internet, not that ipv6.google.com is the most visited page on google.
ipv6.google.com isnt even 2 months old.
By Ari on May 4, 2008
You can find out more on IPv6 at ICANN:
http://www.icann.net/factsheets/
++++STEPHEN DOUGLAS SEZ+++++
Hi Ari,
Excellent link provided. Thank you, I’m sure a lot of readers appreciate that. I couldn’t get that pdf up on any search I made on IPv6. Maybe I should have gone to ICANN first, but I can make this statement from the factsheet they provided: It says NOTHING about the status of all our domains bought within every available TLD and CCTLD. It says absolutely nothing about how IPv6 will affect our current domain names we own. That’s kind of scary, don’t you think? Or not? Smiley face?
By jeff schneider on May 8, 2008
I have to laugh at some of the S.E.O. fan club statements out there. They all go like this. Soon all these scum sucking domainers will be destroyed and all their domain names will be obsolete. LOL
++++STEPHEN DOUGLAS SEZ+++++
I have seen a few of those lame comments myself, but the real pros, like my buddies at SEMPDX.org, are not in that camp. The majority of SEO experts don’t dog domains. I strongly support SEO involvement for domain owners building out their domains… SEMPDX.org is an excellent place to start.