Which Will Arrive First: IPv6 or the Metric System?
By Bill Kine, Product Manager, Spirent Communications

Let's reminisce. Harken back to the 1970s and 1980s. At that time, a new and improved numeric system was introduced to the United States. This system promised to enhance and simplify our current structure and eventually supersede the existing outmoded practices. Furthermore, this new system would ensure our compatibility with the rest of the world, and thereby improve our overall competitive position in the global economy. The new system was mandated by Congress, and was seen as an inevitable evolutionary step. This, of course, was the introduction of the infamous metric system. All of the decades-old arguments in favor of the metric system are still equally valid today, and yet Americans continue to cling to our outdated inches, miles, pounds and quarts.

Now it is the year 2005. A lot has changed over the past quarter of a century; most significantly, the advent of the Information Age and the Internet. As the Internet grows into its next generation, it too is facing a requirement to update its current numbering scheme. A new system is required that will simplify configurations, ensure our compatibility with the rest of the world, and enhance the current facilities (security, performance, competitiveness, etc.). This upgrade from IPv4 to IPv6, like the metric system, has also been ordered by the Federal Government. This too, despite all of the inevitable benefits, is meeting with passive opposition from the current users of the Internet.

There is no denying that both IPv6 and the metric system will be highly beneficial. Both systems have been wholeheartedly endorsed by the most powerful Government in the world. And yet, neither has been embraced by the American public or businesses. So, which will come first? And why?

IPv6 – Slower than molasses but faster than the metric system. IPv6 will win this sloth-like race. Simply put, as distasteful as inches may be, we will never run out of them; the supply is infinite. We could keep stubbornly using English measurements eternally. However, we will exhaust the limited reserve of IPv4 addresses. When business expansion is no longer possible, the US will be forced to migrate to IPv6.

At the current pace, this migration could require another decade (and it still will beat the metric system). However, there are some interesting catalysts on the horizon that may significantly expedite this process.

The most significant driver for IPv6 is likely to be wireless communications. Users will soon accept (and expect) the universal Internet as an adjunct to their cell phones. This presents two challenges, both of which can be readily resolved by IPv6. The first is basic mobility – keeping track of a constantly moving user. While IPv4 can be adapted for this (i.e. by using Mobile-IP), IPv6 is much better suited for this type of application. The second challenge is the address space. Adding over one billion IPv4 cell phone users (more than doubling or even tripling the current Internet) is not possible. Progress will be blocked by the limitations of the current system.

The other catalyst for IPv6 will be future applications. Developers are taking notice (and keen interest) in some of the new facilities enabled by IPv6. Streamlined communications, stateful security, improved quality of service support and simplified configuration are all benefits that can lead to improved user applications. Once these IPv6 features have been incorporated into innovative new applications, it will be impossible to revert back to the old-fashioned IPv4.

The Future: IPv6 and the metric system both offer some substantial benefits. However, it is possible for procrastinating Americans to continue to bury our heads in the sand and survive without the metric system. As tedious as this process may be, pounds can be converted to kilograms and miles to kilometers without causing any major domestic or international catastrophes.

On the other hand, Internet progress will abruptly halt without IPv6. In addition to the common sense arguments in favor of IPv6, along with a Federal imperative, there also are key technological drivers that will necessitate the use of IPv6. The metric system proponents lack that last crucial item, so its use will continue to be postponed.

Neither the metric system nor IPv6 has any real inertia in the United States at this time. Many people are perfectly content ignoring both systems indefinitely. However, both will eventually become a reality. IPv6 will show up first, and in due time will be followed by the sluggish metric system.