Campaign 2000 is well underway. Republican Presidential candidate, George Bush and Democratic Presidential candidate, Al Gore, are debating about debates. George Bush announced this weekend that he is more than agreeable to three debates with Gore. Gore doesn’t like the three debate venues because of limited television broadcast. In defense of his reluctance Gore stated that the Bush debate proposal was, “…not fair to the American people…”
Quite frankly I’m certain that what’s best for me is not foremost in the mind of either candidate. The final debate format, fair or not, will be what the American people will get.
I’m not unhappy about taking what I can get. It is my usual posture with regard to the government.
I am finding that the Internet also moves on a course that drags me contentedly along. I can’t change the Internet even though it’s part of my daily life, but I do have an interest in being informed. Recently, when I read a newspaper article about Internet 2 which uses IPv6 I turned to Pete Wilson and the Internet equivalent of consumer digest to learn more about it. Here are my questions and answers.
What in tarnation does IPv6 even stand for?
IPv6 stands for Internet Protocol version 6.
What is Internet Protocol anyway?
It is Internet diplomacy at its best. The Internet around the world embraces the same culture and standards. All Internet data packets are put together identically with a standard format for the header and footer. Every router and server in the world can accept any data packet because of the Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) standards.
So, what happened to IPv1-5?
It turns out that information on the Internet now mostly travels according to IPv4 which curiously is the 5th Internet Protocol version. Between 1977 and 1978 without the American people even being aware of it the powers that be whizzed through IPv0-IPv3. Since 1979 we have all used IPv4. IPv5 came and went, but was used only experimentally, hence the current jump to IPv6.
What can IPv6 do that IPv4 can’t?
One main thing that IPv6 does is to increase the number of available Internet addresses. Forecasters have predicted that with IPv4 which uses a 32-bit address space we will run out of Internet addresses by 2010. IPv6 uses a 128-bit address space, so we will be funded for the indefinite future. If only Social Security were so simple!
IPv6 offers better security that IPv4. Encryption of data packets will be a standard feature.
IPv6 also includes flow labeling as a basic feature. Data packets are identified as belonging to a particular “flow.” In IPv4 packets are sent on their way along the Internet, directed by routers and reassembled at their destination. In IPv6 packets of data that carry multimedia real-time video images or streaming audio would get “fast lane” priority. IPv6 will make streaming audio and video fast and smooth.
What is an Internet address?
Every machine that accesses the Internet must have an address. A server, a main computer that may be networked to the Internet, will have a permanent address. Internet users from home will have a session dependent address. When you dial-up from home and get connected to a modem at your Internet Service Provider (ISP) you are assigned the address for that modem for that session.
Internet addresses are “dotted decimal” numbers called octets. For instance my website, www.henscratch.com, has an address that is mapped by the domain name server at Gamewood to an octet such as 208.229.248.11. No one wants to remember that octet, so we remember the Universal Resource Locator (URL) addresses which are the words that are “mapped to” an octet ID number or address.
What is Internet 2 and what does it have to do with IPv6?
Internet 2 is a broadband Internet access project between select universities and the government in collusion with 13 corporate partners including Cisco, MCI, Nortel and Qwest. It will be fast and will use IPv6 to give it all of the security and packet priority features.
Who decides what Internet Protocol I use?
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a self-organized group of Internet-interested people who meet three times a year. It is now a large open group, though not yet quite rivaling the Democratic National Committee(DNC). The IETF and it’s working groups make recommendations to the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) who develops the Internet Protocol standards. The IETF and the IESG are sanctioned by the Internet Society (ISOC) along with other groups including the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). You can join the IETF at ietf-announce-request@ietf.org.
So, what is the take home message here?
Without further debate I say that security is good and speed is fine, but the real power lies in the acronym. You’ve got to have an FBI, CIA, ISP, IPv6, IETF, IANA or you’re NADA…No Acronym, No Access…
or an IDIOT…In Denial In Overwhelming Technology
or NUTS…Not Ultimately Technology Savvy
or IATL…I Am Totally Lost!
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