I just don’t usually go on and on and blog about the same subject three times because obsessing is something we should all avoid. I hate being bored and don’t want you to be either. Especially when it comes to talking about technology — you know I like to mix it up and keep it interesting, right? The thing is, lately it seems like everyone has been shooting me chatter about this subject and it would be wrong to ignore that. Plus, something new and cool has popped up that justifies a three-blog post. Actually, if things keep going the way they are with the IPv4 addressing scheme, I’m pretty sure I’ll need to shout out a part IV before the end of summer.

The last time I wrote about the IPv4 address-exhaustion issue we had about 10% left — maybe just under that — of all potential IPv4 addresses available for allocation to customers from the IANA, RIPE and the RIR.  Now we have less than 8%, and only twenty-two /8’s available, meaning that the clock is now majorly ticking. The new IPv4 allocation Doomsday is actually estimated to be as close as September 20th, 2011 — a mere 573 days from now!

Not to be Davey Downer, but what I’m getting at here is that the Doomsday date keeps getting moved up faster than Antarctica can ditch parts, which strongly suggests that we could all be hearing about it on CNN & BBC as early as late 2010! Don’t believe me? People, here’s this year’s first news story on the subject, published Jan 20th, 2010 as a release to the media by the Number Resource Organization:

“The Number Resource Organization (NRO), the official representative of the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) that oversee the allocation of all Internet number resources, announced today that less than 10% of available IPv4 addresses remain unallocated. This small pool of existing IP addresses marks a critical moment in IPv4 address exhaustion, ultimately impacting the future network operations of all businesses and organizations around the globe.* “This is a key milestone in the growth and development of the global Internet,” noted Axel Pawlik, Chairman of the NRO. “With less than 10 percent of the entire IPv4 address range still available for allocation to RIRs, it is vital that the Internet community take considered and determined action to ensure the global adoption of IPv6,”* said Mr Pawlik.

With so few IPv4 addresses remaining, APNIC and the NRO is urging all Internet stakeholders to take immediate action by planning for the necessary investments required to deploy IPv6.”

Oh wait, that’s not all… Here’s another upbeat little link quietly announced in January that probably totally passed you by unless you’ve been following this issue like a stalker. IANA, the organization that coordinates global IP addressing, allocated the previously unallocated and distinctive, 1.0.0.0/8 block to APNIC. Take a look at this nice little link BTW… Props for this Intel go out to Marcus, A.K.A. “Big Evil” on my forum, who is very cool and definitely not a stalker—Thanks bro!

So what’s up with that? Were the folks at IANA checking out my blog posts, which lead them to the epiphany, “oh my, we’d better stop holding out all these unallocated addresses, listen to Todd and give up that conspicuous 1.0.0.0/8 class-A block never before used in the public Internet?” Okay, I’m guessin’ a big no on that one, but it’s just really interesting to me… That big ol’ block just was heretofore just sitting there at the top of the list, “UNALLOCATED”—until now, that is! Why? Kind of rhetorical at this juncture because if this three blog series about our ugly IPv4 address-exhaustion problem hasn’t already made you wake up screaming, “I must begin deploying IPv6 products and services, and get some solid IPv6 training now”, then, well, nothing will. Yes of course you can just cover your eyes and hope all of this isn’t really happening, but if that’s you, it’s seriously time for you to start training in a different sector.

That’s it for this update except for one last thing… check out http://www.globalnettraining.com/ for some really sweet specials, and the best and only Todd Lammle Cisco Authorized training.

Cheers!
Todd Lammle

• ICND1 640-822
• ICND2 640-816
• CCNA Composite 640-802

In order to obtain your CCNA you can take and pass the ICND1 and ICND2 exams at $125 bucks a piece, or try your hand at the CCNA Composite 640-802 exam at $150.

This is the same approach Cisco has been using for years—you either take two relatively easier tests, or one super hard test.

I always recommend the one test approach because, well, no one, including Cisco, has proved that the two-test approach is actually easier. So why go there?

Anyway, since the new exam won´t be released for another month, this could all change very soon. But no worries—I´ll give you the dirt on all of this somewhere around August 1st, as soon as I get back from Networkers.

And, it´s also good to know that if you´re still are studying for the old exam(s), you haven´t wasted your time/effort/cash, because you get until November of 2007 to take them.

A really cool thing I like about the new exam is that it covers all the new cutting edge stuff—no more of that ISDN crap! Here´s a short list of the new technologies covered:

• Secure Device Manager
• Virtual Private Networks
• IPv6 (my favorite!)
• 2960 Switches
• Cisco Network Assistant
• Advanced EIGRP and OSPF
• Introduction to Wireless networks
• More security
• Lots of troubleshooting

Should be a hoot…

In the meantime, come on over to www.globalnettraining.com and get yourself signed up for the newest courses using the latest and greatest gear.

And, don´t forget to nick a copy of my latest CCNA Composite 640-802 Study guide from Sybex because it truly is, far and away, the best book I´ve written to date—I´m so happy with how this book turned out!

IP version 6 is poised to revolutionize networking. Here’s why you should care and what you need to do to get ready.

The odds are good that you’re aware Microsoft will soon release new server and host operating systems that will come loaded with the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) stack pre-installed and ready to rock on your network. Did you know that IPv6 will be the default-routed protocol, though? Unless you uninstall it from your new servers and hosts, your network will be moving to IPv6. If it fails, your hosts will revert back to IPv4. [ Read the rest at RedmondMag.com ]