8 June, 2011 - World IPv6 Day

I hate that this blog hasn't focused a lot more on ipv6. I take solace in the fact that mobile networks are not going to ipv6 soon (mainly out of ignorance if you ask me), Infact I suspect they will have to be forced to use it since no one will be thinking about it if the decision is left to the guys I see making current decisions in the telco space (imagine if apple released an IPv6 only iphone).

Mobile operators stand to benefit the most from IPv6 mainly from M2M applications/communications. Incidentally People so afraid of change are unfortunately in charge of moving us forward (from the regulator to the operators). Focus on mobile number portability has wasted lots of time. a few people saw it as the dead end it seems to be.

Its a clear case of the blind leading the sighted:-) I see it in the whole industry, there's alot of talk in mailing lists about 'issues' but no action *Please read disclaimer below if you're about to rant*. Politics doesn't get work done.

It will be a consultants field day:-) when IPv6 gets forced on the networks. Closer to home, we have some internet peering but dont have a single service on IPv6 (2c0f:fe38::/32): from the cable and wireless looking glass you'll find us represented:-) I would really like to have some IPv6 pdp contexts activated, an IPv6 dmz, to test end to end mobile IPv6.

inet6.0: 5546 destinations, 31745 routes (5535 active, 0 holddown, 14 hidden)
+ = Active Route, - = Last Active, * = Both

2c0f:fe38::/32     *[BGP/170] 2w3d 09:10:07, MED 0, localpref 80
                      AS path: 6453 33771 I
                    > to 2001:5002:100:4::2 via ae0.1404

* so yes our network is IPv6 ready, we can definately provide IPv6 connectivity but we again haven't really tested any service - yet, and you wont have many places to 'go' to that areipv6 enabled. I however wish you'd begin testing. Believe me you'll save money in the near future.

we haven't progressed the IPv6 initiative as much as we should have in Kenya either, the network guys seem ready. The local exchange point has a bunch of us IPv6 peering, but we as yet have no applications running on it - apart from DNS and hmm I wonder if the google global cache reachable through KIXP is IPv6 enabled.


tracing to the ipv6.google.com uses our international link so I guess not, or I used the wrong fqdn.

Primary#traceroute ipv6 ipv6.google.com

Type escape sequence to abort.
Tracing the route to 2A00:1450:8002::93

  1 2001:5A0:C00:100::35 [AS 6453] 292 msec
    2001:5A0:C00:100::15 224 msec
    2001:5A0:C00:100::35 248 msec
  2 2001:5A0:2A00:100::1 [AS 6453] 180 msec 180 msec 180 msec
  3 2001:5A0:2000:400::2 [AS 6453] 188 msec 188 msec 184 msec
  4 2A01:3E0:FFF0:400::D [AS 6453] 188 msec 188 msec 188 msec
  5 2A01:3E0:FF80:100::9 [AS 6453] 200 msec 196 msec 196 msec
  6 2A01:3E0:FF20::3A [AS 6453] 196 msec 220 msec 196 msec
  7 2001:7F8::3B41:0:1 [AS 6453] 200 msec 228 msec 200 msec
  8 2001:4860::1:0:10 [AS 6453] 228 msec 200 msec 200 msec
  9 2001:4860::1:0:8 [AS 6453] 208 msec 208 msec 204 msec
 10 2001:4860::8:0:2AC3 [AS 6453] 212 msec 212 msec 212 msec
 11 2001:4860::2:0:87D [AS 6453] 212 msec 208 msec 220 msec
 12 2001:4860:0:1::25 [AS 6453] 216 msec
    2001:4860:0:1::23 212 msec
    2001:4860:0:1::25 220 msec
 13 2A00:1450:8002::93 [AS 6453] 208 msec 212 msec 208 msec

I hope and wish to have a full IPv6 DMZ (dns,smtp,ntp,pop,www,wap,looking glass etc) by the IPV6 day.

So...scoot over to the isc . its important to note here that whether we like it or not, among others, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Cisco, Akamai Technologies, Limelight Networks, W3C, Bing (Microsoft), Tom's Hardware, Rackspace, Verizon, and Juniper have committed to participating in the experiment (wikipedia).We will all participate if our users visit sites affiliated with the networks above. so we might as well do something about our infrastructure.

what are you doing about it?

I am not directly responsible for this infrastructure at work anymore but I'll definately make a concerted effort to ensure our customers don't get caught off guard. and now Im sleepy:-)

Seneca: Moral letters to Lucilius

Ahhh the folly of road construction and fiber cuts:-) while I totally thoroughly don't mind the infrastructure build going on in the country (Kenya), the near total outages we're suffering due to fiber cuts are raising very interesting questions....and halted some of my work:-)

How do you build a redundant national fiber infrastructure?
how come the builders didn't know or allow for this sort of thing happening?
Is there room for new players?
whats my role in all this?
will the local counties benefit from this ?
and many many more

so I drifted to Moral letters to Lucilius/Letter 22 mainly just to kill time and maybe get in touch with my inner self.....I basically have nothing to write today....but I felt I had to fill the space:-) no the letters and the fiber cuts are not related either:-)

anyway interesting words from the moral letters:
11. My dear Lucilius; there are a few men whom slavery holds fast, but there are many more who hold fast to slavery.
12. But if you keep turning round and looking about, in order to see how much you may carry away with you, and how much money you may keep to equip yourself for the life of leisure, you will never find a way out. No man can swim ashore and take his baggage with him.

*PS I read these letters during boring endless time suck's called meetings...