The move on to IPv6

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December 16, 2004 (Computerworld) -- Despite the success of Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), at the age of 31, this current protocol is due for a significant technology makeover.
The original design of IP wasn't intended for many of today's Internet uses. The fathers of the Internet couldn't foresee today's typical Wi-Fi Web surfer at the local coffee shop conducting a secure transaction over a browser.
Most security precautions were ignored in the development of IPv4, and they have continued to be a challenge for application developers since then. The IPsec security protocol was an afterthought, and Network Address Translation (NAT) -- which has been widely deployed to solve the address-depletion problem and for perceived security benefits -- makes true end-to-end, secure applications difficult to deploy.
In IPv6, however, IPsec support is mandated, allowing devices to securely authenticate remote nodes and encrypt communication with them.
In addition, NAT is eliminated in IPv6, allowing all nodes to communicate with one another using globally routable addresses. Since IPv6 offers almost infinite address space, NAT isn't needed. This brings back the end-to-end nature for which the Internet was designed in the first place. Other features built into IPv6 help to augment security, such as autoconfiguration, quality of service (QoS) and mobility. These security features help to create a new business model -- one of secure, end-to-end communications between almost any types of devices, fixed or mobile.
This is in contrast to today's IPv4 networks, where NAT generally reduces communication to one-way (outbound), and encryption, when available, is usually implemented on global address segments while LAN segments remain unencrypted and unsecured.
The U.S. Department of Defense has embraced IPv6 for the above-mentioned reasons. In June 2003, the DOD announced its plan to complete transition to IPv6 by fiscal 2008, and as of Oct. 1, 2003, all network assets developed, procured or acquired are to be IPv6-capable (see story).
The DOD concluded that IPv6 adoption is necessary to meet the agency's requirements for mobility and end-to-end security. The DOD's IT budget is the government's largest at $25 billion per year, giving an enormous boost to network security and IPv6.
The DOD has adopted a net-centric technical vision. According to this vision, future combat systems demand ubiquity (IPv6-centricity), mobility and ad hoc networking and security. For example, from a networking standpoint, the soldier is viewed as a site -- a network of onboard systems providing integrated real-time data. Weapon firing and supply data would be fed back to commanders as well as precise position information.
Health information such as a soldier's heart rate, blood pressure and temperature would also be relayed. The soldier could also receive positioning data about friends and

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