More than 200 organizations around the world
turned on IPv6 at 12 a.m. UTC on June 7 for the world’s first mass test
of the second-generation networking standard.
Participating Internet service providers, content
management networks and Web companies switched to IPv6 networks for a
24-hour test to increase awareness as well as to work out the kinks in
the protocol at 8 p.m. EST on June 7. Participating organizations are
not limited to just technology companies, as government agencies,
educational institutions and entertainment companies are also taking
part, according to the Internet Society.
For most users, it is business as usual and nothing will be obviously different. For others trying out the
latest thing in networking technology, it is quite entertaining.
Armed with a Windows 7 laptop with an IPv6
address, eWEEK started browsing the Web to see what was happening on
World IPv6 Day. Instead of having some parts of the world start earlier
or later than others, the switchover is happening more or less
simultaneously, using London time as the cut-off point.
"Everyone is turning IPv6 on and off at the same time," Andy Champagne, engineering vice president at Akamai, told eWEEK.
Some companies appear to be having some fun with
IPv6. Eagle-eyed Web surfers will notice that Facebook’s address
2620:0:1:c18:0:face:b00c:: contains a misspelled version of its name
(face:b00c). Cisco’s 2001:420:80:1:c:15:c0:d07:f00d address reads "Cisco dog food." Dog food is a tech term to mean the company is using
its own products.
While browsing for IPv6 Websites, what was more
noteworthy were the number of major technology giants who chose not to
enable IPv6 on their main Websites, such as Comcast, Intel, AMD and
Apple. While Level 3 Communications, a Broomfield, Colo.-based Internet
service provider who operates a Tier 1 network, had an IPv6 address,
the site level3.com returned a "404 Not Found" page.
To read the original eWeek article, click here: World IPv6 Day Starts Around the Globe Without a Hitch
