Transition.

One of the major difficulties with IPv4 and IPv6 is that the two are currently incompatible. One of the risks of switching to IPv6 too soon is cutting off access to websites for Internet users with incompatible hardware. IPv4 addresses cannot communicate with IPv6-enabled hosts because of the difference in address block sizes. Due to the wide deployment of IPv4 addresses across networks, which would need to be remapped if replaced with IPv6, the cost of switching from IPv4 to IPv6 is extremely high. Many companies will need to employ Dual IP Stack Implementation, which is a fundamental IPv4 to IPv6 transition technology. This essentially allows programmers to rewrite networking code that will allow sites to work in systems that operate on either IPv4 or IPv6.

According to a recent survey, 64 percent of IT professionals polled said that they need more education when it comes to implementing IPv6 and 59 percent said that they expect an upgrade to IPv6 will involve a big investment in new hardware and software. However, over 91 percent agreed that IPv6 is fundamentally important to the growth of the Internet.

Switching to IPv6 requires a significant investment, though, and it will not happen overnight. In the same survey, 16 percent of IT professionals stated that they are more than two years away from rolling out IPv6 on their internal networks; 13 percent predicted that they are 12 to 24 months away; and 14 percent responded they are 12 months away. The other 57 percent have either begun or completed implementation of IPv6 (38 percent), or do not plan to use it at all (19 percent). As a result, IPv4 addresses are currently in high demand by global enterprises – particularly those operating in the cloud computing, hosting and telecom spaces – and smaller businesses, alike. So long as interim IPv4 address solutions are available, and less costly to acquire than the cost of transitioning to IPv6, most companies that need IP addresses to maintain and grow their operations may prefer to stay on the IPv4 system as long as possible and delay the transition to IPv6. The demand for IPv6 is therefore, understandably, currently low.