From the Editor's Desk

By: Mirjam Kühne

Date: June 8, 2016

line break image

IPv6 Captures the Spotlight at IETF 69

If it were possible to assign a theme to the IETF 69 meeting in Chicago last July, the obvious choice would be IPv6. Now that IPv6 has become an integral part of the community, as evidenced by the number of working groups that are connected to it, it is the actual deployment of IPv6 that is capturing the attention of the IETF.

photo of chicago skyline

Chicago, site of IETF 69
Photo by Alexandru
Petrescu

A good place to start is the summary of a special meeting that took place at IETF 69 with the IESG and the IAB (see below). The purpose of the meeting was to find out what the IETF can do to help with the deployment of IPv6. Similarly, Shane Kerr takes a look at the historical development of IPv6 in an effort to determine if opportunities were missed then and, if so, whether they might offer useful lessons on the deployment issues we face now. (See page 9.)

One topic that frequently comes up in discussions of IPv6 deployment is network address translation (NAT). For many, NAT is a fact of life when it comes to working with and around IPv4. It’s also possible that ignoring that reality could mean missing the opportunity to standardise IPv6. Lixia Zhang offers her perspective on page 14.

Another notable event at IETF 69 was an informal panel discussion with several IAB members and former IETF chair Brian Carpenter. The discussion, organised by the ISOC Chicago chapter, offers interesting insights into the challenges that await the IETF as the Internet grows. (See “ISOC Chicago Arranges for Experts’ Panel at IETF 69″ on page 25.)

As always, we wish you fun reading, and we welcome both your comments and your contributions for future issues of this publication.