Read my previous IPocalypse article for background info.
According to this article from NetworkWorld, we may not see the IPocalypse. One of the biggest concerns has been how much slower IPv6 would make websites—because you’re dealing with 128 bits per user, rather than 32 bits, servers would slow down quite a bit.
The US government, who needs to keep its fundamentals covered, has already been making the switch on all of its public websites, over to IPv6. While the process is still not done, the US military is making the move, as well as the White House. President Obama knows how the internet works.
Possibly in reaction to this move by the government, and also to see how things would actually turn out in the real world, several major internet companies (like Facebook, Google and Yahoo) have agreed to set June 8th of this year to be “World IPv6 Day,” the day where participating companies will support native IPv6 traffic on their websites. Needless to say, that’s a very big chunk of the internet giving IPv6 a practical test.
This is different from what Google and Facebook have been doing so far—they both already support IPv6, but have it tucked in a corner. On World IPv6 Day, they’ll implement IPv6 into their main, heavily-trafficked websites.
What this means for you is that on the 8th of June, you may experience hiccups or minor internet difficulties. The official expectation is about .05% of users will have problems but, like with anything, it’s best to adhere to Murphy’s Law.
Besides that, your operating system and internet browser almost definitely have IPv6 installed, so the only change you should see is that the internet will not collapse into a horrible pit of Web 1.0 sites, popup ads and blinking marquees with embedded music.
