Normally we talk about WHY you should be involved with ARIN, but today we want to stick to the practicalities. With our first 2012 Public Policy and Members Meeting just a couple weeks away, now is the perfect time to get up to speed.

First, we recommend you join the ARIN Public Policy Mailing (PPML) List, and second, we highly suggest you participate in an ARIN Public Policy and Members Meeting.  Our next meeting will be held 23-25 April in Vancouver, BC, and while it might be a little difficult to make arrangements to be there if you haven’t yet, remote participation is a great option. Before we send you off to register, let’s take a quick look at exactly how policy discussions work and review the proposals on the ARIN XXIX agenda.

What are policy discussions at an ARIN Meeting like?

At every ARIN Public Policy Meeting there is a list of draft policies that will be discussed by the community.  The policies are addressed one-by-one following these steps:

• Staff Introduction
• Advisory Council presentation
• Moderated discussion (including remote participant questions and comments)
• Straw poll to assess community support

Watch this video as an example of a staff introduction of a draft policy that was discussed at our last meeting in Philadelphia; it will be on the docket of the upcoming meeting as well.

Which policies will be discussed at ARIN XXIX?

ARIN-2012-4: Return to 12 Month Supply and Reset Trigger to /8 in Free Pool

ARIN-2012-3: ASN Transfers

ARIN-2012-2: IPv6 Subsequent Allocations Utilization Requirement

ARIN-2012-1: Clarifying requirements for IPv4 transfers

ARIN-2011-7: Compliance Requirement

ARIN-2011-5: Shared Transition Space for IPv4 Address Extension

ARIN-2011-1: ARIN Inter-RIR Transfers

Everyone is invited to participate in ARIN’s policy development process, and we hope you will join us in helping to shape the future of the Internet.  Join the PPML mailing list and register for ARIN XXIX today!

There are 4,294,967,296 IPv4 addresses.  At first glance 4,294,967,296 seems like a large number.  Could you imagine how long it would take to travel 4.3 billion miles? The total weight of 4.3 billion elephants? Or the cost to throw a party for 4.3 billion friends? However, when it comes to IPv4 addresses, that number is just not large enough to satisfy the needs of the ever growing and changing Internet.

We are inching closer to the point where Regional Internet Registries will not be able to distribute IPv4 addresses to everyone who needs and qualifies for the address space. The global free pool of IPv4 reached empty when IANA distributed a final /8 to each of the RIRs in February of last year. APNIC reached their final /8 of IPv4 space in April 2011, and other RIRs, such as the RIPE NCC and  ARIN, are expected to soon follow suit.

Ever wondered where all the IPv4 went? Well let’s take a look :

The graphic above, prepared by the NRO in December 2011, explains just where all of the IPv4 address space has gone. The IPv4 address pool is made up of 256 /8s (read slash eights).  Each /8 contains 16,777,216 addresses.  From the graphic above you can see the status of each of the 256 /8s that IPv4 contains.

• 130 /8s, by far the largest block of /8s, have been distributed to the RIRs for allocation in their respective regions.
• 91 /8s are contained in the central registry
• 35 /8s are not available for a variety of reasons, including experimental, local identification, loopback, private use, and multicast.

The most notable piece of information on the graphic shows that the IANA reserved space is at zero.  There are no more new /8s to distribute to the RIRs around the world and therefore supplies of available IPv4 space at each Regional Internet Registry is steadily depleting.

You might be wondering how we could go through so many addresses so fast.  There are many reasons the Internet has expanded rapidly.  One recent example is the increasing popularity and adoption of mobile technologies. How big is mobile?

• There are now 1.2 billion mobile Web users worldwide, based on the latest stats for active mobile-broadband subscriptions worldwide
• A recent report from Cisco predicts that mobile-connected devices will outnumber people by the end of this year.
• The Cisco report also forecasts that there will be over 10 billion mobile-connected devices by 2016
• Ericsson reports the Internet of Things will greatly expand over the next 10 years, projecting that there will be 50 billion internet connected devices by 2020

So next time you think to yourself “Where have all the IPv4 addresses gone?” look no further than the cell phone in your pocket.

We’re continuing to track the final /8s of available IPv4 address space at ARIN. Check our depletion counter at https://www.arin.net/ for the latest updates. 

February 29^th is a day that only comes around once every four years, so how are you planning to take advantage of the extra day this Leap Year permits?

One idea is to use the day to advance your IPv6 deployment. How, you ask? We’ve pulled together a list of a few fun ideas that can help you spend your time taking additional steps toward IPv6 adoption.

Introduce yourself to IPv6. To those of you who are just now becoming familiar with IPv4 depletion and IPv6 adoption, 6DISS has a great web tutorial that outlines everything you need to know.

Take a free IPv6 certification test. Do you want to certify your ability to configure IPv6 and validate your IPv6 server’s configuration? This free tool from Hurricane Electric will help you do just that.

Learn the fundamentals of deploying IPv6. Want to know about the features and benefits of IPv6? The addressing structure? Basic configurations? My IPv6 tutor, a free video-based self-trainer, is a great place to start.

Read a case study. This interesting use case from the University of Pennsylvania explores how the university not only laid the groundwork for, but also deployed a wide-scale effort and ongoing support for IPv6 adoption.

Enable your DNS for IPv6. It is best to phase in the use of IPv6 records in your DNS so that you can deal with the various issues that arise step by step. The process isn’t too complex, but there are a variety of things you should consider. Consult our IPv6 Wiki’s DNS and Naming Issues Page to learn about best practices for enabling your DNS for IPV6.

Read about IPv6 and enterprise deployment. Because IPv4 and IPv6 will coexist for the foreseeable future, companies will need to maintain business continuity for all IPv4 and IPv6 customers after IPv4 depletion. This working group paper defines a small set of basic enterprise scenarios and includes pertinent questions to allow enterprise administrators to further refine their deployment scenarios.

Take a deeper dive into IPv6 security. Helpful tutorials from 6deploy explore several issues like privacy extensions, ND threats, IPv4 vs. IPv6 Threat Analysis and firewalling IPv6. Security issues from transition and coexistence point of view are also provided.

Share your IPv6 knowledge with others.  Contribute to ARIN’s IPv6 Wiki, and be part of the community. Take part in developing a great resource for everyone interested in learning more about IPv6.  Did you know most of the links shared in this post came from our IPv6 Wiki’s Educating Yourself about IPv6 Page or IPv6 Presentations and Documents Page?  The only thing missing on our IPv6 Wiki is your IPv6 deployment experience, so add it today.

How do you plan to spend your extra day this year? Will you be “leaping” toward IPv6?

Did you hear?  Registration for ARIN XXIX has opened!  Our first ARIN Public Policy and Members Meeting of 2012 will take place on the 22^nd through 25^th of April at the Four Seasons Vancouver in Vancouver, British Columbia. To register and find out more information visit the ARIN XXIX page.

Not sure if you want to attend?  Watch our meeting movie to help make up your mind.  Sure you want to attend?  Watch our meeting movie anyway to get a taste for what to expect.  Either way watch our new meeting movie (after you’ve read our warnings below)!

Caution:

• Movie will not cause drowsiness.
• Do not operate heavy machinery while watching movies. Bad idea.
• May cause a sudden urge to register for ARIN XXIX directly after watching.

Now what are you waiting for?  Watch the meeting movie and then register for ARIN XXIX.

As usual, this year looks like it’s going to be a busy one for TeamARIN.  We’re going to be on the road spreading the word about IPv6 all over our region.  We’d love to have you join us whereever we might be.  In 2012 you’ll see us at tradeshows, conferences, meetings, and special events.  Here’s a small sampling of what the year holds for us.

ARIN Public Policy and Members Meetings:

ARIN on the Road Events:

Tradeshows:

Speaking Opportunities:

And this is only a few of the events we’ll be attending or hosting in 2012! There is much more in store, and new opportunities get added to our calendar all the time. We hope to see you out and about!

With the leaves turning colors and temperatures getting cooler in parts of the ARIN region, the seasons are definitely in transition.  But the weather isn’t the only thing changing—so is the way we connect to the Internet.  Many of us have already transitioned from IPv4 to IPv6 or are in the process of making the transition.

We want to know your reasons for transitioning to IPv6.  Tell us in the comments below.  Maybe you have a story to share?  Maybe you’d like to wax philosophical?  Maybe you haven’t transitioned to IPv6 yet, but you’re considering it?  We want to hear from you too.

Maybe you transitioned to IPv6 because it will allow your peer-to-peer applications to run better?

Maybe you’re transitioning to IPv6 because you see a future where many many devices are going to need a way to connect to the Internet?

Maybe you will transition to IPv6 because you know it will make you the savviest geek in town?

We could keep going, but we would rather hear from you.  Drop us a line in the comments below.

Why are YOU transitioning to IPv6?

Or if its suits you better—Why did YOU transition to IPv6?

Or if you haven’t already—Why will YOU transition to IPv6?

The results are in from the 2011 Global IPv6 Deployment Monitoring Survey and we’re happy to report IPv6 adoption is expected to rise over the next year. A whopping 70% of respondents said they plan to go IPv6 by the end of 2012.

The survey was released by the Number Resource Organization (NRO), which consists of the five Regional Internet Registries (ARIN, AfriNIC, APNIC, LACNIC, and RIPE NCC) and conducted by GNKS Consult, an independent research and evaluation organization.

More than 1,600 respondents from locations around the world participated in the survey, and over 350 of the responses came from the ARIN region.  More than half of the respondents were Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and three quarters were from the commercial sector.

Participants were asked questions like:

Does your organization have an IPv6 presence?

If your organization has IPv6 in production, how does the amount of IPv6 traffic compare to your IPv4 traffic?

What are likely to be the biggest hurdle(s) when deploying IPv6?

Which best describes your organization’s IPv6 implementation (plans)?

In addition to indicating an increase in IPv6 adoption over the course of the next year, the survey results reveal that concerns about IPv6 are diminishing in most areas.

For a brief overview about the survey, refer to the NRO announcement and the ARIN announcement.

For all the juicy details, get straight to the source, and see the results of the IPv6 Deployment Survey for yourself.

As Raúl Echeberría, Chair of the NRO, said, “Information such as this is a valuable tool in gauging the progress made by the Internet community in adopting IPv6…It’s encouraging to see so many positive responses from the survey participants, and all Internet stakeholders should take this as a call to action to deploy IPv6 across their networks.”  We agree!

World IPv6 Day has come and gone, but what really happened?

The answer?  Not a whole lot. ARIN’s president and CEO, John Curran, said, “World IPv6 Day turned out to be everything we expected. For most of the end users of the Internet it was a non-event, which is what we were hoping for. At the same time it was a good learning experience.”

What are ARIN’s results from World IPv6 Day?

World IPv6 Day was just another day at ARIN. ARIN has been utilizing IPv6 for services as far back as 2003. By 2008, all of ARIN’s publicly accessible production services (DNS, mail, web, instant messaging, directory services, etc.) were made available over IPv6 for any user who has IPv6 connectivity. Additionally, ARIN’s internal network is IPv6 enabled which allows anyone within ARIN’s network both local and global IPv6 connectivity. As expected, ARIN did not experience latency, broken links, java script errors, flash plug-in errors, slower loads, or any other issues while accessing IPv6-enabled web sites. ARIN also participated in collecting data for OARC’s IPv6 Day Collection as part of the Day in the Life of the Internet Project.

What can you learn from the trial?

The answer is simple – IPv6 is the future of the Internet.  John Curran predicts, “World IPv6 Day is going to have a very significant effect over the coming months…because it doesn’t talk about a problem, it talks about a solution.” Instead of warning about the run out of IPv4 addresses, it positively reinforced growing the Internet with IPv6 addresses instead.

What effects will we see from World IPv6 Day?

ARIN is pleased that World IPv6 Day generated so much interest and excitement about IPv6 and we fully expect requests for IPv6 addresses to increase with the successful completion of the full-scale testing. We’ve seen a significant uptick at ARIN in requests for IPv6 address space, an encouraging sign of industry awareness of this important change.

What are some of our favorite articles following World IPv6 Day?

• World IPv6 Day draws attention to security issues with new protocol
• What did we learn from World IPv6 Day?
• Vint Cerf on IPv6 Trial: ‘The Internet Is Not Going to Melt Down’
• IPv6 101 on IPv6 Day: What Small Businesses Ought to Know)
• Cox Business puts customers on display during World IPv6 Day
• IPv6 Day a Couple of Days After
• IPv6 Day: Kicking the tires of a next-gen Net today
• IPv6: Come on in, the water’s fine