Universities asked to test new internet protocol

By ADAM GIFFORD

Networking infrastructure provider Citylink is encouraging universities, research organisations and firms to "have a play" with the next generation of internet protocol, IPv6.

Internet New Zealand is paying for the construction and operation of a "public access" IPv4/IPv6 test-bed, which connects with the existing IPv6 peering network at Auckland's APE6 and Wellington's WIX6 exchanges.

Although users directly connected to APE6 and WIX can exchange native IPv6 traffic, other people must use a technique called tunnelling through public access gateways in the United States and Japan.

Routing traffic this way can mean round trip traffic times of several hundred or thousand milliseconds. The test bed will bring that latency time to a few milliseconds.

The applications people might test could include remote real-time control telemetry, video conferencing and distributed computer processing, which are sensitive to high latency.

Citylink's Andy Linton said the test bed was not for commercial use because there was only a 1 megabit IPv6 link between cities.

Launching the project at the Network Operators Group "Big Geek Program" in Hamilton, he said users need to come to grips with weighty technical issues, particularly around IPv4 not being able to read IPv6 addresses.

"There are some minuses. I'm not sure what the positives are yet," Linton said.

Proponents say IPv6 offer greater security and more control over quality of service.

It will also allow direct addressing of embedded appliances, motor vehicles, livestock, cellphones and other devices not now on the internet.

Linton said devices with IPv6 sent out only a few bits of data to identify where they were, compared with the streams required under IPv4.

Internet NZ