Don’t just focus on SD-WAN, pay attention to IPv6

The Internet of Things (IoT) is fundamentally changing how technology connects to our daily lives. From wearable devices that track our activity levels to smart thermostats that help us save energy, there’s no doubt that the IoT is improving our lives.

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In the enterprise, IoT helps companies save costs and increase productivity by automatically streamlining operations and discovering new business growth points. Big data analysis, sensors and proprietary applications connected to each other through the network are tools for enterprises to maximize their benefits through IoT.

It is undeniable that the Internet of Things has also had a profound impact on today's network infrastructure. Most networks cannot support the flood of IoT data from countless devices. Therefore, the functions of the Internet of Things cannot be fully utilized.

The problem is mainly due to the exhaustion of addresses in the existing IP standard (IPv4). In the Asia-Pacific region, IPv4 addresses are no longer sufficient to be allocated to new end users. When Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn introduced IPv4 in 1974, it was designed to accommodate approximately 4.3 billion addresses, and it seemed that the protocol would be sufficient to support development for the next few years. However, the explosive growth of mobile phones and other "always online" Internet devices was beyond the creators' expectations, and each device required a unique address, and the problem of insufficient IPv4 addresses arose.

The situation has been eased by the latest Internet standard, IPv6, which provides more IP addresses, simplifies IP address allocation and is more secure. The adoption rate of IPv6 is growing, and currently, the IPv6 adoption rate in the United States has reached 26.1%. In addition, Google IPv6 statistics show that the percentage of users accessing Google via the IPv6 protocol has increased significantly. In January 2015, only about 6% of Google users accessed Google via IPv6. A year later, in January 2016, this number climbed to around 10%, and in January 2017, this number has risen to more than 16%.

What makes IPv6 so special?

IPv6 has many innovative features. For example, it uses 128-bit Internet addresses, which means it can support 2^128 Internet addresses, enough to accommodate multiple devices for long-term access.

From a security perspective, IPv6 embeds IPsec (encryption), which is equivalent to the same level of security as IPsec in IPv4. The particularity of IPv6 is that it is compiled in packets. It also uses higher-level encryption technology such as Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) (ping). Since IPv6 applies IPsec to ICMP, it can prevent blocking malware.

In addition, IPv6 supports the SEND protocol, which authenticates hosts through encrypted information, greatly reducing the possibility of name-based attacks. Under the IPv4 protocol, it is relatively easy for hackers to direct traffic for malicious attacks or steal information.

IPv6 configuration is also much simpler. The automatic configuration function of IPv6 enables the device to generate an IPv6 address immediately after it is powered on, thus reducing the manpower required to configure the device.

Can IPv6 be implemented perfectly?

IoT devices are increasingly leveraging IPv6 to address efficiency, scale, and security issues. The adoption of IPv6 is a double-edged sword for companies: While there are enough addresses to add IoT devices to the network, there are not enough to meet the bandwidth-intensive requirements of IoT solutions. In many cases, the network is delayed due to accommodating too much data.

That's why SDN, especially software-defined wide area networks, has attracted companies looking to upgrade their existing networks. SD-WAN has many benefits, from optimized application and cloud connections and enhanced security to simplified configuration and the ability to support any transport. SD-WAN provides an effective way for enterprises to get rid of vendor-specific hardware infrastructure and time-consuming configuration and enjoy the advantages of agility and flexibility.

The SD-WAN market is booming. Research firm IDC predicts that the SD-WAN market will reach $6 billion by 2020. That’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 90 percent, up from a market value of $225 million in 2015. Enterprises are realizing the benefits of SD-WAN over traditional WAN, and the Internet of Things is helping to accelerate the evolution of SD-WAN as the foundation of the enterprise WAN.

IPv4, while on the verge of exhaustion, is not going away yet. That’s why companies looking to adopt SD-WAN must ensure that the solution they choose supports both IPv4 and IPv6 to ensure a smooth transition to their digital transformation. Without support for both IPv4 and IPv6, companies may face many of the same connectivity issues as their current WAN.

Clearly, the combination of IPv6 and IoT makes SD-WAN more attractive to enterprises, especially those that are already feeling the strain of data traffic from multiple devices. The combination of new technologies will increase a company's ability to expand, create new opportunities, and ultimately improve profitability.