Just a guy in Vermont trying to connect all the dots...
Dan York
Author's posts
Jun 07
Hell Hath Truly Frozen Over: Microsoft WindowsAzure Supports Linux
In the category of “Things I Never Thought I’d See In My Lifetime“, given all of Microsoft’s intense animosity toward anything related to Linux (ex. Steve Ballmer’s infamous “Linux is a cancer” quote), I was shocked – but pleased – to see that Microsoft’s WindowsAzure cloud platform is now supporting Linux virtual machines:
Now, it’s no surprise, on the one hand. If Microsoft wants to see WindowsAzure remain competitive as a cloud platform with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Rackspace Cloud and a hundred other vendors they need to support both Windows and Linux.
Still, given all the anti-Linux venom coming from Microsoft in those early years of Linux, I never thought I’d see this kind of change!
Jun 06
Updated Version of “Migrating Applications to IPv6” Book/Ebook Available Through O’Reilly
If you’ve bought the ebook or printed version of the book within the past few weeks, you should have received the most recent updated version. As I mentioned previously, I submitted to O’Reilly a range of updates – and have confirmed that an updated version is now shipping. It includes:
- Added new section on recent events and changes that make it critical for application developers to be thinking about IPv6.
- Added section on connecting to DNS servers over IPv6 and about DNS and DHCPv6
- Added sidebar about RFC 5952, “A Recommendation for IPv6 Address Text Representation”
- Expanded text about “Happy Eyeballs” algorithm and included mention of RFC 6556 for testing for happy eyeballs.
- Added brief info about lessons learned from World IPv6 Day
- Added info about World IPv6 Launch in 2012
- Added new section on testing resources
- Added new section about setting up an IPv6 test network
- Updated IPv6 NAT info to point to RFC 6296
- Added warning about SMTP’s way of showing IPv6 addresses
- Added additional resources, including a new section about some informational RFCs that may be of interest to application developers.
If you previously purchased the book directly from O’Reilly, you should have been notified of this update.
I’m very appreciative of the feedback received thus far – and definitely welcome further feedback! I’ve also received many kind words and comments that the book has been very helpful. That’s great to hear… and exactly why I wrote it!
Jun 06
IPvFoo and IPvFox Provide An Awesome Way To See IPv6 / IPv4 Usage By Websites
Want to know how well a website you visit works with IPv6? Whether the site uses components that are only available over IPv4? Or even whether you are connecting to a site using IPv6 or IPv4?
If so, there are two outstanding extensions/add-ons that you can use:
In both cases, what happens is you get an addition to your browser’s location bar that shows you either a “6″ or a “4″ when you connect to a site. Even more useful, it can show you when a web page requires pieces or components from other sites – and the addresses used by those sites:
I’m using this in all my browsers now and it has in fact helped tremendously when I was trying to debug a connection issue. It also very much highlights the fact that websites today build pages by making calls out to many other websites… so creating an web page that is entirely available over IPv6 can turn out to be challenging. These extensions can help you see where the reliance on IPv4 continues.
Plus with World IPv6 Launch upon us, it’s admittedly just a bit fun to see how many sites you connect to do indeed have IPv6 connectivity.
Jun 06
Google Promoting IPv6 From Their Main Search Pages
As World IPv6 Launch has been rolling out over the past hours, it’s been great to see Google placing a link right on their main search page:
The link brings you over to Google’s excellent explanation of IPv6, complete with drawings of pipes. 
Kudos to Google for doing this and helping potentially educate people who have no clue about IPv6 and who just go to Google to search.
Jun 06
IPv6 Is Now REQUIRED In All IP-Capable Nodes – And Standards
Looking for another great reason to advocate IPv6 support within your organization or company? Consider this – the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has now stated clearly that IPv6 is REQUIRED in all “IP-capable” devices and systems.
On a practical level, the IETF cannot, of course, flip a magical switch that just makes everything IPv6 (if only!!)… but what this means is that you can pretty much expect that all new standards coming out of the IETF will require IPv6 – and it’s not too hard to think that there will be some new technologies/services that may come out (and be standardized) that are IPv6-only. So if you want to keep your company/organization on the leading edge of technology, this is another reason to look at how you can can transition your company’s products and services to work with IPv6.
As stated in RFC 6540 published in April 2012:
Given the global lack of available IPv4 space, and limitations in
IPv4 extension and transition technologies, this document advises
that IPv6 support is no longer considered optional. It also cautions
that there are places in existing IETF documents where the term “IP”
is used in a way that could be misunderstood by implementers as the
term “IP” becomes a generic that can mean IPv4 + IPv6, IPv6-only, or
IPv4-only, depending on context and application.
The full RFC can be found at:
The key “best practices” recommended in the document include:
- New IP implementations must support IPv6.
- Updates to current IP implementations should support IPv6.
- IPv6 support must be equivalent or better in quality and functionality when compared to IPv4 support in a new or updated IP implementation.
- New and updated IP networking implementations should support IPv4 and IPv6 coexistence (dual-stack), but must not require IPv4 for proper and complete function.
- Implementers are encouraged to update existing hardware and software to enable IPv6 wherever technically feasible.
As we saw with World IPv6 Launch last week, IPv6 is now becoming “the new normal” for the Internet. If you aren’t looking at how you can move your organization to IPv6, you will be left behind.
Jun 05
Forbes: 6 Reasons Why Businesses Should Deploy IPv6 Now
The Internet Society’s own Chief Internet Technology Officer, Leslie Daigle, wrote a guest article for Forbes on “6 Reasons Why Businesses Should Deploy IPv6 Now.”
With World IPv6 Launch on everyone’s mind, more and more people are tuning into the need for IPv6. Leslie’s article provides sound advice for organizations of all sizes. Leslie maintains a focus on WHY IPv6 is so important, and sums it up nicely with this:
Without new addresses, the Internet as we know it – a platform for realizing innovation and building new services and applications – cannot grow to connect more people and devices. Without a new way forward, billions of people will never get to use new Internet services and applications that are on the drawing boards of today’s companies and in the imaginations of tomorrow’s entrepreneurs.
She then goes into six main reasons to deploy IPv6:
- Prevent Increased Costs
- Prevent Disruption to Your Websites
- Grow Your Global Business
- Maintain Customer Experience and Access to Your Supply Chain
- It’s Ready to Deploy Today
- Your Competitors are Doing It
Jun 05
And So Begins World IPv6 Launch!
Here we are… 00:00 UTC on June 6, 2012. The beginning of a “new normal” for the global Internet where IPv6 is permanently enabled on over 3,000 registered websites and many, many more out there. Over 60 network operators / ISPs have committed to enabling IPv6 for their customers… and leading home router vendors have committed to enabling IPv6 by default for all their new products.
This is it… no more test flight… this time it is for real!
The Internet as we know it is changing fundamentally and for the better, launching a new era of innovation and communication that is no longer shackled by the legacy limitations of IPv4.
Over the next 24 hours, we’ll be streaming news and information out of the World IPv6 Launch Twitter account, and the website is steadily rolling out videos from Launch participants and Internet Society Chapters over the next 24 hours. Stay tuned for more…
… and welcome to the new Internet!
Jun 04
Join Vint Cerf On June 5th In A Google+ Hangout About World IPv6 Launch
Want to listen in live to a discussion about World IPv6 Launch with Vint Cerf, one of the “Fathers of the Internet” and currently Chief Internet Evangelist at Google?
Tomorrow, June 5, one day before the big launch, Vint Cerf will be participating in a Google+ Hangout On Air at 12 noon US Pacific time. He will be discussing what is happening as part of World IPv6 Launch and will be answering questions from reporters and others gathered in the hangout.
At 12 noon PDT tomorrow, you will be able to listen in via Google+ by going to the Hangout link on Google’s Google+ page at:
https://plus.google.com/116899029375914044550/posts
(The Hangout link will not be available until it is live tomorrow. If we learn of another way to promote the link to the session in advance we’ll update this post with the info.)
The session will be recorded and made available on YouTube. We’ll post a link here once the archive is available.
Jun 04
Netflix Now Streaming Videos Over IPv6!
With World IPv6 Launch happening on Wednesday, we were delighted to see the news that not only is Netflix making their website available over IPv6, but now they are actually streaming videos over IPv6! Last week, Josh Evans posted to the Netflix Technical Blog an article that included this information:
For Netflix, our initial IPv6 deployment involves the Netflix website and video streaming on the PC and Mac platforms. We will follow on with other streaming platforms. There’s no action required for Netflix members. We’ll continue to support IPv4, and IPv6 will simply work when your ISP “lights up” support in their networks.
Netflix had joined the list of World IPv6 Launch website participants back in April, but it is outstanding to now receive word that their streaming infrastructure will also support IPv6.
Kudos to the Netflix team for making this happen – and this provides a huge boost to video content availability over IPv6! Now, native users of IPv6 will be able to stream video from both YouTube and Netflix… who will be the next video provider to embrace the future of the Internet?
Jun 04
34 Hours Until World IPv6 Launch! Are You Ready? What Are YOU Doing To Be Part Of The Event?
World IPv6 Launch starts in just about 34 hours, at 00:00 UTC on Wednesday, June 6, 2012.
What are YOU doing to be part of the event?
Have you enabled your website(s) to be available over IPv6?
Have you set up your home network with IPv6?
Are you already one of the thousands of participants in the Launch?
Are you ready for the day when the Internet gets a “new normal”?
If not, how can we help you get ready? Check out our list of IPv6 resources – or let us know how we can help you.
If you are all ready and are participating, why not record a quick video and tell us about what YOU are doing?
On Wednesday, we’ll be celebrating with videos and blog posts telling the story of how the Internet is changing… we’d love to include your story as part of that mix!
