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IPv6 in 2017
By Michiel van der Vlist, 2:280/5555
Another year has passed. When we compare the statistics as published
by the end of 2016 with those of today, we see that IPv6 in Fidonet
has grown again. From 51 to 64 nodes.
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2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
The exponential growth in the first five years however did not
continue. Until the end of 2015, the number almost doubled every
year. In 2016 we had a mere net increase of 12 nodes. I say "net"
because in 2016, not only did we see new IPv6 nodes, we also saw
nodes disappear from the list. Three stopped supporting IPv6, two
left Fidonet altogether. This trend continued in 2017. Another net
increase of 13 nodes, one more than last year. So we now have steady
growth.
A trend we do not really see continue is the move towards native
IPv6. In last year's list we saw 33 nodes with native IPv6 and 18
nodes that used a tunnel. In today's list we see 42 nodes with
native IPv6 and 22 using a tunnel. The ratio remains at about 2/3
native, 1/3 tunnel. This is not what I expected and goes against the
general trend on the InterNet that native IPv6 is slowly gaining
foot and replacing transition mechanisms such as tunnels. Maybe what
we are seeing is that the Fidonet Pioneer Spirit is still here and
that sysops do not want to wait for providers to support native IPv6
and take things in their own hands by setting up tunnels.
Speaking about tunnels, 2017 was the year that major tunnel provider
SixXs closed shop. It did not come as a surprise, at the end of 2016
I already wrote that the main driving force Jeroen Massar showed
signs of fatigue and that I would not be surprised if SixXs were to
close down in the not too distant future. That prediction came true.
SixXs closed down on 2017-06-06. Thank you Jeroen, thank you Pim for
fifteen years of a valuable free service.
The impact of SixXs' sunset on Fidonet was minimal. In Jan 2017 there
were just two systems left that used a SixXs tunnel. There had been
more in the past but they either got native IPv6 or they had already
taken their data elsewhere. Those two eventually moved to he.net and
so the impact on Fidonet was minimal.
He.net shows no signs of preparing to close their free tunnel service
any time soon. But nothing lasts forever, so let us continue to ask
our providers for native IPv6.
What we did not see in 2016 and still have not seen in 2017 either
is the coming of systems that no longer have a public IPv4 address
because their provider converted them to a DS-Lite connection. The
exhaustion of the IPv4 address space not only makes IPv6 unavoidable,
it also makes it unavoidable that at least part of the internet
community will have to make do with a DS-Lite connection and so no
longer has a public IPv4 address. The trend that providers, mostly
in Europe and Australasia, are switching to DS-lite continues. Some
providers only put new customers on DS-Lite and allow existing
customers to keep their public IPv4 address, others are move existing
customers to DS-Lite as well. It has not affected Fidonet yet, but I
expect that to be a metter of time. DS-Lite is unavoidable and it
will affect Fidonet. If not next year, then surely in the years to
come.
To be prepaired I did a series of test the past year to see if
running a Fidonet node from a DS-Lite connection was doable. The
conclusion was that it certainly is doable, with or without the help
of a third party offering an IPv4 to IPv6 port proxy service like
https://www.feste-ip.net/?ref=18105
The tests are document in Fidonews 34:20 of May 2017, 34:31 of July
2017, 34:33 and 34:38 of August 2017.
Fidonet will survive the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses. But only for
those that move to IPv6. Unfortunately like in the Big Bad World
there are people that are in denial regarding global warming, there
is a non negligible fraction of Fidonet sysops that are in denial
regarding IPv6. They seem to think that it is just a conspiracy to
extract more money from the cutomers, a hoax or a hype that will blow
over.
Well, it ain't. IPv4 address exhaustion is real and IPv6 is
unavoidable. Those that remain in denial will eventually be left
behind. It may take a while, maybe another decade, but running a
Fidonet node on an IPv4 only connection will eventually lead to
isolation. IPv6 is a must, not an option.
Happy IPv6 in 2018.
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* Origin: Home of the Fidonews (2:2/2.0)