IPv6 deployment for hosting and developers
Talk on the implications of deploying IPv6 for hosting platforms and developers.
Rough notes
- Stats on incoming traffic from hosting providers
- Stats on outgoing traffic from ISPs(?)
- Percentage of sites running IPv6
- Percentage of other services running IPv6
- Example: Russell Group universities with AAAA for their main website.
- Some very big news sites
- BBC iPlayer?
- Netflix
Problems
- Why is IPv6 deployment so slow?
- Adding AAAA records 'breaks' SSH.
- Mail over IPv6 without SPF and DKIM stops delivery to large mail providers (e.g. Google).
- If multiple protocols are available, which should be preferred? Linux seems to go for IPv6 first, but any which prefer IPv4 will never see the v6 service.
- What is the benefit for hosting platform customers?
- What is the incentive for incumbent providers?
- IPv6 deployment can and does break things.
- Benefits are vague and in future.
- IPv6 is like PHP 7 - yes you should do it but there's limited immediate quantifiable benefit to the customer.
- IPv4 works. The only problem is a lack of addresses, but you can hack around that, and it doesn't matter to incumbents.
- Double the number of connectivity tests to run and services to monitor (assuming dual-stack).
- Firewall solutions and edge routers might not support it - expensive to replace
- Getting v6 addresses is a faff compared to v4
Competition concerns
- RIPE 733: "The size of the allocation made will be exactly one /24.", "The sum of all allocations made to a single LIR by the RIPE NCC is limited to a maximum of 256 IPv4 addresses (a single /24). If this allocation limit has been reached or exceeded, an LIR cannot request an IPv4 allocation under this policy."
- Who regulates RIPE et al? They have power to allocate a scarce and valuable resource.
Takeaways
- Deploying IPv6 at the hosting end can be a lot of work
- But you should still do it
- Forget starting a hosting provider
- 'Buy IPv4 addresses, they're not making them anymore'