Late in the 1970’s, when the IPv4 address space was drafted, it was inconceivable that it could be exhausted. But now with the advent of a ubiquitously connected society and the explosion of devices connected to the internet, the life of IPv4 is almost up.

Luckily in 1996, the Internet Engineering Taskforce, a worldwide body of volunteers that develops and promotes internet standards, had already put on paper plans for a successor to IPv4: Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

Probably the most publicised advantage of IPv6 is the massive increase in assignable internet addresses (IP addresses). Whereas the current standard doesn’t even allow for one IP address per human being on the planet, the new IPv6 protocol can cater for millions of addresses per person. The practical application of this will be the ability to join more devices to the internet to achieve the same richness and intelligence as current day PCs. Devices such as mobile phones, televisions, gaming systems and even automobiles could all benefit from a unique internet presence.

However, there’s much more to IPv6 than the commercial advantages. Network administrators from organisations of all types and sizes are gearing up to integrate IPv6 in to their local and wide area network infrastructures. With a more efficient routing structure, better quality of service and improved security, IPv6 is destined to change the way business networks are used. Its eventual full adoption will lead to many new operational applications and business opportunities, but for now the two protocols – the old and the new – will exist in tandem.

Woodstone bvba, an IT consulting and development firm, is one company focused on the early adoption of IPv6 and supporting the technology infrastructure that uses it. The latest version of its best-of-breed network monitoring tool, Servers Alive, was recently unveiled with support for Internet Protocol version 6. The feature update ensures network administrators rolling out IPv6 across their technology infrastructure can continue to utilise a complete network monitoring solution while maximising the additional benefits of IPv6.

Available via free downloadable add-ons, Woodstone have extended Servers Alive’s already powerful functionality by developing several IPv6 compatible monitoring options: Remote DF com; Remote PS com; Ping. The remote DF com and remote PS com add-ons, for use with Unix, Linux, BSD and compatible *NIX systems, allow for remote monitoring of disk space and running processes respectively. An encrypted SSH connection over IPv6 is utilised for this and the tools are IPv4 backward compatible. The ping tool is able to ping an IPv6 enabled host with an IPv6 packet.

The add-ons compliment the IPv6 URL check – a feature already built in to the application’s latest version. The URL check will verify that a website is available when hosted on an IPv6 compatible web server. The tool is intelligent enough to automatically fall back to IPv4 if it fails to resolve an IPv6 address.

The commitment of IPv6 support by Woodstone, who focus on bringing their clients tomorrow’s technology today, allows companies to drive innovation in their technology infrastructure while maintaining a consistent and effective monitoring solution across their IPv4 and IPv6 environments.

More than ten years after the Internet Engineering Taskforce first touted IPv6 the technology world is finally overseeing its adoption and practical application. The wise heads who developed it probably never thought a television or air conditioner might one day utilise the technology – but there’s every chance it will happen. And with forward thinking software tools like Servers Alive, you’ll be able to monitor the status of your favourite TV show and the temperature of the lounge room right from your handheld mobile device!