To refresh our memories, we started our IPv6 tutorial  with an overview then we moved to IPv6 addressing in general and in this post I am moving deeper into IPv6 addressing types. As promised I will keep things simple and clean for you and for me, so let’s begin.

Generally speaking IPv6 unicast addresses play the same role unicast addresses used to play in IPv4 networks. There are plenty of different IPv6 unicast types this post will focus on four of them.

Global unicast address:

Global IPv6 unicast addresses are equivalent to the public IPv4 addresses, this means they are routable and reachable over the internet. Global unicast addresses are identified by the binary prefix of 001.  The global unicast addressing was designed to fit the hierarchical scheme of the internet. The following format is common for that reason: Read the rest of this entry »

70 days passed since I wrote my last post about IPv6 Addressing. Long time, however I didn’t feel it. Maybe I even forgot what I was doing here or planning to do, those 70 days actually carried a lot of unplanned events.

My last post was on 24th of January and on 25th of Januaray it all started with protesters in Tahrir square asking for justice and equality for all the Egyptians, that was the begining and it ended by me now writing this post from Amsterdam, Netherlands where I currently work.

Those revolutionary days had a lot of lessons, challenges, emotions to all those who lived in Egypt within this period. I learned and changed a lot in so many ways,this revolution did not just change the history of Egypt, it also changed us the Egyptians and it may expand and change the world one day.

I don’t really know whether the change is going to be for the better and I will not claim that tomorrow will be better than yesterday but I can certainly claim that tomorrow will be different than yesterday. Six months ago  I wrote a post titled It’s time to make a change because I believed we are in a turning point in human history, the whole world is changing to something different than what it used to be, but I didn’t know then that the change would be such fast and dramatic in my homeland Egypt.

Tunasia, Egypt then Libya and who knows what is next, all of this in addition to the earthquake in Japan and its consequnces. I was lucky for beening in Egypt during those 18 days from 25th of January 2011 to 11th of February 2011, for my own good I was there sharing all the Egyptians this transitional period, participating and writing a new history with them.

In such unrest conditions that interrupts your normal life, you start to notice things that you have never noticed before. I was really lucky to pass through this experince at least I will have stories to tell my children and grandchildren one day

But there  is couple of lessons I want to share with you here:

Live NOW, don’t wait or delay your dreams. Do what you feel like NOW, its all you have.

Dare to face your deepest fears. This one only will give you the FREEDOM you deserve.

And finally the title of this post. Life follows some plan but this plan is not indeed your plan.

Now, I think I will be back gradually at least writing again about those technical stuff that I almost forget and many other issues very soon. Nice to meet you again

I am back again with the second post in this series, in the first post we had an overview of IPv6 and the need for it in the near future. In this post we will start breaking the technical ice of IPv6; I am going to discuss basic IPv6 addressing. This will need more than one post to finish.

My philosophy for this series will be “Cut the jargon and keep things, simple and straight as possible”. That’s why I will try to keep it short and to the point . Let us begin:

IPv6 Address size and space:

This is the major change that were made to IPv6 vs IPv4 and was the biggest reason to create this thingIPv6 from the beginning. The need for more address space; but how many will be enough?

Read the rest of this entry »

I will start from the beginning; two weeks ago I wrote a post claiming that IPv4 is depleting and IPv6 is coming soon; and since we are considering deploying IPv6 soon in our network, I thought it might be useful to write about IPv6 migration and transition strategies. Although, this is important but I think the readers of this blog including me will benefit more if we start at the beginning even if it takes longer to get where I wanted to start.

I will start small and build up as we go toward the new IPv6 internet. Get yourself a cup of coffee,relax and lets start slowly. I promise it will be a nice journey.

Read the rest of this entry »

IPv4 is depleting so fast and time comes to get ready for IPv6. IPv6 may come to real life by 2012/2013.

I am making a big claim here and I think I need to back it up with some facts:

• IPv4 address space is estimated to deplete somewhere in 2011. Check this Report.
• U.S government agencies are ready for IPv6 since June 2008.
• Large service providers are IPv6 ready or being ready now. Google your service provider.
• Content providers are preparing for IPv6. Google is one of the leaders in this transition. Just do a simple search to see the efforts toward IPv6.

I suggest the following actions to get your network ready for IPv6:

1. Orient yourself with IPv6. I recommend you start familiarizing yourself with IPv6, addressing, routing protocols, discovery protocols, etc.
2. Start Playing IPv6 in your LAB scenarios, if you are testing a technology that can be tested with IPv6, use IPv6.
3. IPv6 is originally designed to coexist with IPv4, use IPv6 in addition to the existing IPv4 wherever possible in your network. Use it on capable routers, hosts and servers.
4. Buy only devices that support IPv6 in addition to IPv4. If you are buying new devices/applications or replacing old ones, make sure they support IPv6, this is very important to protect your investment.
5. Connect to service providers that have clear plans and time lines for supporting IPv6. Ask your service provider explicitly about their plans for IPv6.
6. If  you work for a service provider or something similar, make sure you recommend IPv6 capable devices to your customers. Specially for broadband users.
7. Attend seminars/webinars, join groups and forums and keep moving with the world in this smooth transition, so far.

Start getting ready now. I wish you an easy and smooth transition.

Yesterday I had a post named “What do you think of Huawei?“; I am interested in their business strategies trying to gain a better understanding of the Telecom market dynamics, but it seems that I am not the only one interested in them.

Please read the following two part research and know about the Chinese ART of WAR.

ACG Research on Huawei, Chinese business culture and the Art of War.

and

ACG Research on Huawei vs. network equipment vendors.

Enjoy !!