IPv6 impact on need of net admins

Sorry if this is the wrong place for this, but I am studying BSCI.

Well IPv6, you think it could reduce the need for network admins... Am I crazy? I know it will be along time before ipv6 will replace ipv4. I know this because I work for a global ISP and we use virtually zero IPv6. Yes I know it is out there, but out of the thousands of our global devices I admin I have seen IPv6 address a couple of times give or take....

So does anyone here work with IPv6 a lot? Has it made things easier or harder? Do you think it will impact the need for net admins?

Just looking for peoples opinions.

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Comments

networker050184

We haven't deployed IPv6 yet, but I don't see how it would reduce the number of admins. Some one still has to run the network whether its running v4 or v6.

mikej412

The only thing I see affecting admins are the Consulting Companies circling and hoping to swoop down on the networks with their "IPv6 solutions" and get a chance to staff the network with their "IPv6 experts."

I'd say the IPv4 and IPv6 interoperability adds some work -- but not enough to justify bringing in the Consulting Companies so they can pitch outsourcing all network administration to them.

With IPv6 addresses I tend to copy and paste a lot more -- so fewer typos seems to offset having to dig through larger blobs of IPv6 information in command output.

EdTheLad

I'm supposed to be starting a new job testing IPv6 for a major telco in the next few weeks, its a 6 month testing gig.

Forsaken_GA

I don't think it'll decrease the need for net admins. I do think it will increase the opportunities for net admins who are capable with ip6, as more than a few folks seem to be under the impression that ip6 will never see large scale deployment... and those folks have a rude awakening in the works

Talic

Are companies going to be deploying IPv6 in their own internal networks? I assume they would be using NAT to translate to IPv4 addresses to IPv6 addresses to get outside the network.

Forsaken_GA

some are. Comcast has had ip6 deployed internally for years, and a number of asian ISP's have been deploying ip6 to their home users. The majority of the big backbone providers have also been running a dual stack for years. There simply hasn't been a good enough business reason to push ip6 en masse, but that's going to come as the ip4 blocks get harder and harder to come by. My company is having a devil of a time getting additional allocations from ARIN, and the last two we've gotten have been from ip space which bad people had before... it's taken many hours of work to get those blocks cleaned from the various blacklists.

We've got our ip6 allocation, and I think we're planning to roll it out and start offering it to customers sometime in the next couple years

liven

EdTheLad wrote: »

I'm supposed to be starting a new job testing IPv6 for a major telco in the next few weeks, its a 6 month testing gig.

Let us know how this compares to a IPv4 job in terms of routing and daily responsibilities...

liven

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

I don't think it'll decrease the need for net admins. I do think it will increase the opportunities for net admins who are capable with ip6, as more than a few folks seem to be under the impression that ip6 will never see large scale deployment... and those folks have a rude awakening in the works

It is just a matter of time before IPv6 will have to be used... But like I mentioned before I work for a global provider and I rarely see IPv6. And for ALL of our customers to change lets say even in a year it would be a MASSIVE under taking. I know it will happen one day, and after it does happen I am curious to see what the net admins role will be like.

Like so many things for me, IPv6 is hard to "get" just by reading and some lab practice. Eventually when I get a chance to do it a lot more I think it will sink in better.

liven

Talic wrote: »

Are companies going to be deploying IPv6 in their own internal networks? I assume they would be using NAT to translate to IPv4 addresses to IPv6 addresses to get outside the network.

This will probably be the first step for some companies. If they have a large or complex infrastructure this may be a quick way to transition. But using NAT and IPv6 at the same time could turn into quiet a headache!

Cyanic

IPv6 is huge in Asia. North America has been lucky in that we got to horde v4 space in the beginning.

We have 3 class B's and about 20 class C's for 20K nodes. We will not have to move anytime soon.