The business that documented the case study is in the telecommunication industry and provides networking services to the customers in various industries. The case study illustrates how IPv6 version has enabled the Quantum Networks to achieve its success in terms of service delivery. This version has enabled the company to make a profit of $6 million per year due to its efficient programming of services. Some of the advantage of IPv6 in networking of any business organization is reducing company costs, increasing company growth, reduced network jam and many other benefits.
As the internet expanded and became more complex, many users entered the digital world, a new internet protocol became a necessity to help and solve problems that the IPv4 was prune to. The release and coming into place of the IPv6 came as a relief with so many advantages. The new protocol version IPv6 offers more features which allow the internet to keep up with high speed and also support several billions of users that need to access the internet across the world. The IPv6 version has been a key success to many businesses across the world in terms of faster service delivery to its clients. Such business organizations include telecommunication organizations and even production industry.
IPv6 version has much more advantages in comparison with the older version IPv4. Security is one of them. In the IPv6 version, there are more authentications and encryption of files in the internet, hence avoiding security risks that may come along. This ensures that the business networks cannot be hacked into or compromised in any way, hence assuring the business of security.
The IPv6 version has larger address space. The IPv6 came with 128 bits versus the 32 bits that the IPv4 has. This means that more addresses will be available per an individual. This creates enough IP address numbers which will be a better solution to the shortage of internet addresses in the IPv4. It will also help to avoid any future problems concerning address numbers of the computers. Since there is an increase of smartphones, tablets and other mobile methods of accessing the Internet within the business, only IPv6 addresses can fulfill this. The IPv6’s larger subnet space and its hierarchical route aggregation ensure better network management and routing efficiency in the network.
In the newer version the processing has been simplified. IPv6 routers no longer perform fragmentation. Instead, it is the host’s job to perform PMTU discovery of the end-to-end fragmentation. The overall packet processing by the IPv6 routers is more efficient than those in IPv4. Multicasting is another significant advantage of the IPv6 protocol. It is no longer a problem for business to get the globally multicast group assignment which is routable. This ensures multicast solutions, embedding assignation point addresses and the overall ease of operation to inter-domain solutions.
The IPv6 deals with the business need for a simpler and more auto addressing mode by supporting stated and also stateless addresses in the network. The IPv4 version is configured manually and by the use of DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration protocol). Automatic configuration through APIPA (automatic private IP addressing) is available for secluded subnets that are not routed to other networks.
There are a number of disadvantages of upgrading to IPv6. One of the disadvantages is that the business has to procure new software and hardware that can support IPv6. This is because some devices like internet projectors and some routers do not support IPv6. This calls for additional spending of resources. For small business with few internet users, it is uneconomical to do this.
There is the need to replace absolutely important programs which have been in the business for a long time. There could be the issue that the program everyone uses for their day to day activities is not supported by the IPv6. This necessitates training of everyone on the use of new programs and new equipments which in itself is a high cost. Other issues that arise as a result of the upgrade include regeneration of the IT Desk and return of investment. Analysis is also needed to determine the viability of the upgrade to avoid losses.
One of the backward compatibility problems of the upgrade documented is that almost all servers and legacy networking hardware do not support IPv6. As a result, problems like a dual-stack edge switches running into a DNS (Domain Name Server) when a user tries to get access to some Internet sites. Another problem is that many versions of Internet applications cannot work with IPv6, an example being File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
For the upgrade to be successful, the business suppliers and network engineers had to make sure that security of the IPv6 is set up carefully to avoid Denial of Service (DoS) attacks that result from bad traffic and can be hidden in encapsulated packets. After successful upgrade from IPv4 to IPv6, the business will be able to:
- Increase revenues and market share – IPv6 provides wider access to the internet, thus leading to a greater number of mobile subscribers accessing the business.
- Offer greater value on technology – access to both IPv4 and IPv6 provides options to the clients and they do not have to replace their platforms.
- Develop a competitive edge – this is as a result of wider accessibility to data, information and internet services by the clients.
The focus of the case study is to carry out a detailed diagnostic project, by assessing all the current systems and network components in relation to their compatibility with the upgrade as well as the impacts of the upgrade. In addition, the case study provided feasibility of the assessment recommendations as regards software and hardware requirements and changes to the existing systems.
The conversion from the IPv4 version to IPv6 version was a big success, although there were challenges here and there arising from backward compatibility issues that were addressed by the employment of such methods as dual stacking, using Network Address-Translation Protocol Translation (NAT-PT) and ‘tunneling’ one protocol within another. The conversion brought about new and good features that were not incorporated in the IPv4 version. Hence, it enhanced good service delivery and access to essential information and data in the internet. The issue of low speed internet for users has been since addressed and the speed increased greatly. Thus in one click a user is able to access mass information across a wide network of devices from the internet.
I would recommend that businesses upgrade from IPv4 to IPv6 if they have the capacity to, since there are numerous advantages that are absent in the old version IPv4 and come with the new version IPv6. The system works well when using the new protocol version and thus profits will be realized since the business will not be stack in transacting and other related functions or activities that depend on the internet.
The easiness of working with version 6 Protocols is great and accessibility to the remote routers is faster than in the protocol version 4. The IPv6 header has two 128 bit addresses which have a fixed length of 40 bytes, thus allowing for faster processing of information from the internet. The IPv6 avoids broadcasts and instead employs multicasts. Thus the entire network cannot be brought down by a single computer in the network system that is interrupted. The stateless address automatic configuration (SLAAC) is a good feature in the Internet Protocol version 6. This is because it allows for a server less basic network configuration for the computers that are in it. This feature notably helps to make things easier in the operation of IPv6 devices, particularly in the environments like airports, train stations, stadiums, hotspots, sea ports and many others.
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