IPv6 Default Allocation - What size allocation are you giving out

Thu Oct 9 14:35:33 UTC 2014

On Oct 9, 2014, at 8:31 AM, Mark Andrews <marka at isc.org> wrote:

> As for only two subnets, I expect lots of equipment to request prefixes in the future not just traditional routers.

I'm expecting every molecule in every compound to have an embedded IPv6 address which can be read via NFC or some similar technology; and every nanomachine which is pumped into every heart patient to clear out arterial plaque to have one; and every windowblind in every window in every house and apartment and condominium and so forth to have one; etc.  And for the vast majority of those addresses to be limited-duration, one-time-use addresses, and for their address space never to be recovered and resubmitted back into the free address pool.

Which is one reason why I think that this trend of encouraging overly profligate allocation of IPv6 addresses is ill-considered.

We've already seen the folly of /64s for point-to-point links in terms of turning routers and layer-3 switches into sinkholes.  Do we really want to turn each and every network, no matter how small, into a 'strange attractor' for potentially significant amounts of irrelevant and undesirable traffic?

Yes, I fully understand how huge the IPv6 address space really is - but I also believe that the general conception of what will constitute a node is extremely shortsighted, even by those who are evangelizing the so-called 'Internet of Things', and that a huge proportion of the IPv6 address space will eventually end up being allocated for limited-duration, one-time use in applications such as those cited above.  I also believe that we need to drastically expand our projected timescales for the utility of IPv6, while keeping those address-hungry potential applications in mind.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Roland Dobbins <rdobbins at arbor.net> // <http://www.arbornetworks.com>

                   Equo ne credite, Teucri.

    		   	  -- Laocoön