Cox Teams with Business Customers for Test on World IPv6 Day
Cox Business and several of the company’s customers will participate in the first global-scale test of next generation Internet addresses. World IPv6 Day is coordinated by The Internet Society (ISOC) to encourage adoption of IPv6 Internet addresses.
IPv6 has a robust address space and consists of 128 bits as compared to 32 bits in IPv4 – resulting in approximately 340 undecillion (5 x 1038) IPv6 addresses versus the 4.2 billion available through IPv4.
In 2010, Cox began exchanging native IPv4 and IPv6 traffic dual-stack with select business customers and is now conducting residential service trials with Cox employees. The global IPv6 transition will take years to complete, therefore it is important to demonstrate the ability to support both IPv4 and IPv6 simultaneously to ensure no service interruptions.
“We are testing IPv6 with Cox Business customers early to ensure that they can provide a consistent experience to their end users,” said Jeff Finkelstein, senior director of architecture, Cox Communications, in a statement. “Cox’s dual-stack IPv6 deployment allows customers the ability to continue leveraging current IPv4 capability while incrementally adding the IPv6 support required for the next generation of network devices and applications.”?
Cox Business customers participating in World IPv6 Day include ARIN, FastQ Communications, InsureMyTrip, Jefferson Lab, Kwikom, Login and Promptlink. These businesses will access multiple Web sites running IPv6 on World IPv6 Day and monitor interoperability with their internal systems. Anecdotes will be used to determine successful points of integration and highlight opportunities for improvement as the global transition approaches.?
IPv4 address space is expected to be depleted in 2012, when all Internet customers must begin slowly migrating their devices and content to IPv6. Cox’s core network is fully IPv6 compliant and the company is transitioning the network edge and support infrastructure to meet customer demand.
