Sample Critical Thinking On BT Runs Trial IPV6 Addressing System

In the BBC News article “BT Runs Trial of IPv6 Addressing System,” the tech company BT is reported to be testing out an upgrade of the existing global addressing scheme IPv4, known as IPv6. In this trial, BT staff are simply switching to their own private network that runs solely on technology powered by IPv6. However, many BT’s fibre optic customers found they were being given IPv6 addresses, which was a technical error that escaped the isolated trial system and found its way to a select number of BT customers. The article describes the slow progress of switching to IPv6, due to the changes in infrastructure that are required. Furthermore, there are some dangers that the IPv4 and IPv6 addressing schemes are starting to get improperly mixed within ISPs. This is said to be a persistent and complicated problem, as IPv4 was left operational for too long before coming up with a solution for IPv6; as a result, IPv4 addresses are starting to run out, which is causing myriad problems with connectivity and speed.
This article relates greatly to the section of our chapter that discusses IP version 6 (IPv6), which elaborates greatly on the transition between the previously-dominant IPv4 and the new IPv6 that should deal with many of the previous version’s problems. The chapter illustrates that 32-bit IPv4 address space is now too small for the growing capacity of the Internet, as it is mishandling the four billion IP addresses that it theoretically is allowed to provide. By offering these IP addresses inefficiently, IPv4-run ISPs are starting to run out of room to provide Internet addresses for people. To that end, IPv6 was created to provide 128-bit addresses, which provides many more permutations and possibilities for ISP customers. However, the chapter notes how expensive and complicated it is to make the transition between IPv4 and IPv6, which is something the BBC News Article demonstrates in outlining the effects this transition is having on people’s service. In that respect, the article and the chapter act as effective companion pieces, showing the technical basics of the two issues, and the effect that this is having on Internet usage and the companies that provide service.
Overall, the article does a good job of breaking down the intricacies of these pernicious problems within the IPv4 to IPv6 transition, though it does so with not much specific information on the basics of the platforms themselves. The article itself is short and basic, and reliant on interviews and statements from BT, thus focusing mostly on the company’s response and explanation to these complex issues relating to the transition. However, the article has a lot of good information contained within it, including the percentage of net traffic that uses IPv6, the processes by which the roll out is occurring, and the problems inherent in its execution. Of particular note, the article ends with retrospective complaints that IPv6 should have been rolled out sooner, admitting that IPv4 was flawed, which is a very interesting revelation. To that end, this article is more of a primer on the structural problems inherent within the tech industry than it is a primer on the differences between IPv4 and IPv6, detailing the way these companies react to this transition.