Technical Reports
- Report Date Covered Start
2020-09-14
- Report Date Covered End
2022-03-31
- Report Submission Date
2022-03-31
- Project Implementation Countries
India
- Project Leaders
- Dhruv Dhody
- Team Members
- Nalini Elkins [email protected]Mohit P. Tahiliani [email protected]Michael Ackermann [email protected]Praneet Kaur [email protected]Priyanka Sinha [email protected]
- Partner Organizations
Industry Network Technology Council (INTC)
- Total Budget Approved
USD 30000
IPv6 Deployment at Enterprises
INDIA INTERNET ENGINEERING SOCIETY (IIESoc)
IPv6 adoption at large, brick-and-mortar enterprises has lagged. Many feel that unless this issue is addressed, the Internet as a whole will stall at an IPv6 adoption rate of about 60%. The India Internet Engineering Society (https://www.iiesoc.in/), a nonprofit based in India, would like to begin to address this issue. There are many subsidiaries of large corporations in India. Such organizations, primarily use IPv4 addresses. For example, one of the largest mobile providers in India, whose backbone is IPv6, has had to purchase IPv4 addresses on the open market simply to support these corporations. The decision to move to IPv6 is made at the headquarters of these companies - which is often in the United States. The US federal government has recently announced a direction for IPv6-only for the US government. This makes it the right time for this project. IIESoc proposes to work collaboratively with a nonprofit industry consortium in the United States, the Industry Network Technology Council (INTC), to address the issue of IPv6 adoption in large brick-and-mortar enterprises. INTC has done a survey of large enterprises and has found that security, application conversion and training are three of the biggest challenges enterprises have as far as IPv6 adoption. We need to find out exactly what these challenges entail. To that end, we need to have brick-and-mortar enterprises involved. This is an issue because such enterprises do not participate actively in Internet standards bodies. They do participate to some extent in network operations groups. Outreach to these organizations will be a key part of this project. We propose three phases with their corresponding goals. (Subsequent phases may be proposed at the conclusion of phase 3). Phase 1: IPv6 training and migration discussions for enterprises. Goal: Establish IIESoc as a leader in IPv6 space, create visibility for the project, start to create a core group of enterprises. Phase 2: Create a consortium of academia, industry, and government. Goal: Prepare for phase 3 which will create security and application inventory. Phase 3: Create an inventory of application and security challenges in concert with the consortium. Goal: Start to create a methodology to handle the hardest issues in IPv6 conversion. Phase 1 is the necessary precursor and foundation for enterprises to be able to have conversations about what is to be done for IPv6 migration. If they do not receive training and have a forum for discussion of migration issues, the other phases will not be successful. In this application, we only asked for funding for Phase 1 which lasted 12 months. The following webinars have been completed as a part of Phase 1 activity: Introduction to IPv6: Feb 4, 2021 Lab: IPv6 basics: Feb 11, 2021 Neighbour Discovery: March 4, 2021 Lab: Neighbor Discovery: March 18, 2021 IPv6 Address Planning: April 8, 2021 Lab: IPv6 Address Planning: April 15, 2021 IPv6 Transition Mechanisms: May 6, 2021 Lab: IPv6 Transition Mechanisms: May 13, 2021 DHCPv6: June 3, 2021 Lab: DHCPv6: June 10, 2021 IPv6 and Cloud: June 17, 2021 Lab: IPv6 and Cloud: June 24, 2021 Introduction to IPv6 Security July 8, 2021 An addition to the project also included the travel to in-person IETF 113 by one student.
Background and Justification:[Back to table of contents]
IPv6, along with HTTP/2 and TLS, is one of the building blocks for new protocols being developed in the IETF. For example, much of the new work on the Internet-of-things requires IPv6. Enterprises have failed to adopt IPv6 -- especially on internal networks. Other countries, particularly in Asia, that faced a shortage of IPv4 addresses combined with a rapidly growing technically savvy population numbering in the hundreds of millions are moving rapidly to IPv6. US enterprises are holding back global penetration of IPv6 because US subsidiaries in Asia are often IPv4-only. A major factor in the lagging enterprise IPv6 adoption is that enterprise technicians don't know how IPv6 works. The technicians want training yet the management does not want to pay for such training because they do not see a business need for the adoption of IPv6. This creates an unfortunate cycle where misinformation about the complexity of the IPv6 protocol and unreasonable fears about security and manageability, combined with the perceived lack of urgent business needs to prevent the adoption of IPv6. Understandably, corporations, having a responsibility to their stockholders, have upgraded to new technologies and architectures, such as IPv6, when it gains them revenue. Thus, legacy protocols persist and technical debt accumulates. If we, as a technical community, do not help enterprises address these problems, we are likely to have a bifurcated world where IPv4 continues its stranglehold on internal enterprise networks. The problem is, of course, that these networks are the backbone of the governmental and financial networks of the world. They cannot be ignored. There have been quite a few attempts to solve this problem. A number of organizations, even offer free training and certifications. Before we proceed, let us provide some statistics on our own progress in this area: we have over 300 registrations from individuals in the APNIC region for our training classes. These come from over 150 unique organizations, including academia, industry, and government. Many more have downloaded the presentations or watched the recordings on YouTube (around 500 for the introductory session). We feel that this has been quite a successful effort so far. We credit our success to the following differences in our approach: We take into account the complex environment of large, end-user organizations that have a multi-tier, multi-platform network environment. For example, such environments may have firewall clusters, zones of control, load balancers, proxies, hybrid cloud, and thousands of applications. We offer training at a very detailed technical level. Our focus is on what is needed for a real understanding of architecting a complex IPv6 network as well as troubleshooting it. For example, some training courses discuss IPv6 neighbour discovery in one or two foils. We have a one-hour concept class on neighbour discovery as well as a one-hour lab on it. Our trainers have many years of experience in architecting and diagnosing problems on large enterprise networks so we can tailor our presentations to what is needed. To conclude, the motivation of our organization to make this effort is that we are in a very good position to reach these large enterprises that are the backbone of the financial and governmental systems of the world. Their adoption of Internet protocols, including IPv6, is critical to the success of the Internet. We believe the Internet to be, on balance, a force for good and wish to support it. The Asia / Pacific region, due to the relative scarcity of IPv4 addresses, will become a leader in the space of IPv6 conversion, not because they want to but because they have to! We wish to support this change.Project Implementation:[Back to table of contents]
Partnerships with other organizations, researchers, and community leaders The main organizations that we are partnering with are:- Industry Network Technology Council (INTC): for trainers and helping with the project management
- National Institute of Technology: Karnataka (https://www.nitk.ac.in/): for discussions on IPv6 deployment and academic needs
- University of Papua New Guinea
- Laga Industries Limited
- Department of Personnel Management
- Barrick Gold Corporation
- Seetokui
- Divine Word University
- Telikom PNG Limited
- Papua New Guinea University of Technology
- Centre for Excellence in Information Technology (University of Papua New Guinea)
- Digicel PNG Ltd
- Fincorp
- Adveem Enterprise Limited
- Bank of Papua New Guinea
- Port Moresby General Hospital
- Computers And Internet Technology Services (CAITS)
- Mainland Holdings Limited (MHL)
- Providing a forum for IPv6 discussions with global experts
- Providing training at the level and detail needed
- Having recordings available for those who cannot attend the live-session
Project Evaluation:[Back to table of contents]
To what extend the project achieved its objectives? What contribution to development did the project make? Is there evidence of positive impact? We have over 300 registrations from individuals in the APNIC region for our training classes. These come from over 150 unique organizations, including academia, industry, and government. Many more have downloaded the presentations or watched the recordings on YouTube (250+ views each video). A list of organizations by country follows:- Bangladesh: Aamra Technologies Limited
- Bangladesh: American International University
- Bangladesh: Bangladesh Computer Council
- Bangladesh: BDIX
- Bangladesh: BGD e Gov CIRT
- Bangladesh: BOL
- Bangladesh: Cisco
- Bangladesh: Contessa Solutions
- Bangladesh: Digicon telecommunications Ltd
- Bangladesh: Drik ICT Ltd.
- Bangladesh: Fiber@Home Global Limited
- Bangladesh: Level3 Carrier Ltd (IIG)
- Bangladesh: NRD CYBERSECURITY
- Bangladesh: NYK Line Bangladesh Ltd
- Bangladesh: Synesis IT Limited
- Bangladesh: Race Online
- Bangladesh: Triangle Services LTD
- Bhutan: Tashi InfoComm Limited
- China: CERNET
- China: Huawei
- India: ABSPL
- India: ACM Chennai /IEEE
- India: Alumnus Software Limited
- India: Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
- India: Andhra Pradesh state Police
- India: Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd
- India: BBK DAV College for Women, Amritsar
- India: Bharat Institute of Technology
- India: Bharti Airtel Limited
- India: BSNL
- India: CCC
- India: CDAC
- India: Centre for Networked Intelligence - IISc
- India: CHARUSAT University
- India: CHRIST (Deemed to be University)
- India: Cisco
- India: CNI, IISc Bangalore
- India: COEP, Pune
- India: CSPIT Charusat
- India: Chitkara University
- India: Central University of Himachal Pradesh
- India: Himachal Pradesh Technical University
- India: CSIR - Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology
- India: Datasoft Comnet Private Limited
- India: DNA Infotel Private Limited
- India: Dr G R Damodaran College of Science
- India: DXC
- India: Electronics and Communication
- India: Engineering College Bikaner
- India: Ericsson
- India: Ernet India
- India: Esto Internet
- India: Extreme Networks
- India: Fastah
- India: Fusionnet Web Services Pvt. Ltd.
- India: GNarayanamma Institute of Technology and Science
- India: Graphite Networks
- India: GSSSS ULLANA
- India: Guavus a Thales Company
- India: Happiest minds
- India: Hathway Cable & Datacom Ltd
- India: HCL technologies
- India: HP Enterprises
- India: Hurricane Electric
- India: Huawei
- India: IBM
- India: IGH
- India: IIESoc
- India: IMMT and Agro Sciences
- India: Incedo A10 networks Pvt Ltd
- India: INFORMATICS INDIA
- India: Innobox Systems Pvt Ltd
- India: Instamojo Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
- India: Intel
- India: IP Infusion Software India Pvt. Ltd.
- India: IPR
- India: ISOC India Kolkata
- India: ISP
- India: Jawaharlal Nehru National College of Engineering, Shimoga
- India: Jd
- India: Jnn college of Engineering
- India: Juniper Networks
- India: KITS enterprises
- India: Lambton
- India: M.S.Ramaiah Institute of Technology
- India: Mavenir
- India: McAfee
- India: Microsoft
- India: Makaut
- India: Margo Networks
- India: National Informatics Centre
- India: National Institute of Technology Karnataka
- India: National Internet Exchange of India
- India: NavankurIT
- India: NetApp
- India: Netmagic Solutions Pvt Ltd
- India: NIC
- India: NMAM Institute of Technology
- India: NMAMIT, Nitte
- India: Nokia
- India: ONEOTT iNTERTAINMENT LTD
- India: Parametrique
- India: Paypal
- India: Power Grid Corporation of India limited
- India: Qualcomm
- India: Ramaiah institute of technology
- India: Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira
- India: Red Hat
- India: Reliance Jio
- India: Richerlink
- India: RJIL
- India: Rtbrick
- India: Samsung
- India: SBM COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
- India: Sense Connect IT
- India: Silver-Peak
- India: Siti Networks Ltd
- India: Shubham IoT
- India: Smartlink Solutions Pvt Ltd
- India: Solamalai College of Engineering
- India: Software Technology Parks of India
- India: Sree Saraswathi Thyagaraja College
- India: SRM
- India: STPI
- India: Tata Consultancy Services Limited
- India: Versa Networks
- India: VFISLK Global Service Private Limited
- India: VIN Technologies
- India: Vinayak Impex
- India: Vmware
- India: Vaagdevi Engineering College
- India: Zeta Suite
- Malaysia: Axiata
- Nepal: Broadlink network and communication pvt.ltd
- Nepal: Eastlink Technology Pvt. Ltd.
- Nepal: ISMT College
- Nepal: Worldlink Communications
- Nepal: Nepal REN
- Nepal: NT
- Nepal: NCell
- Pakistan: Transworld Enterprise Services
- Pakistan: COMSATS University Islamabad Attock campus
- Pakistan: Cyber internet services Pvt Ltd
- Papua New Guinea: University of Papua New Guinea
- Papua New Guinea: Laga Industries Limited
- Papua New Guinea: Department of Personnel Management
- Papua New Guinea: Barrick Gold Corporation
- Papua New Guinea: Seetokui
- Papua New Guinea: Divine Word University
- Papua New Guinea: Telikom PNG Limited
- Papua New Guinea: Papua New Guinea University of Technology
- Papua New Guinea: Computers And Internet Technology Service (CAITS)
- Papua New Guinea: Centre for Excellence in Information Technology (University of Papua New Guinea)
- Papua New Guinea: Digicel PNG Ltd
- Papua New Guinea: Fincorp
- Papua New Guinea: Adveem Enterprise Limited
- Papua New Guinea: Bank of Papua New Guinea
- Papua New Guinea: Port Moresby General Hospital
- Papua New Guinea: Mainland Holdings Limited (MHL)
- Philippines: University Computer Center UP Diliman
- Philippines: Conduent
- Sri Lanka: University of Colombo
- Sri Lanka: University of Moratuwa
- Sri Lanka: Faculty of Technology, University of Ruhuna
- Sri Lanka: LEARN
- Sri Lanka: Vavuniya Campus of the University of Jaffna
- Thailand: Thai Name Server Co.,Ltd.
- Thailand: THNIC
Indicators | Baseline | Project activities related to indicator | Outputs and outcomes | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
How do you measure project progress, linked to the your objectives and the information reported on the Implementation and Dissemination sections of this report. | Refers to the initial situation when the projects haven’t started yet, and the results and effects are not visible over the beneficiary population. | Refer to how the project has been advancing in achieving the indicator at the moment the report is presented. Please include dates. | We understand change is part of implementing a project. It is very important to document the decision making process behind changes that affect project implementation in relation with the proposal that was originally approved. | Indicate the dates when the activity was started. Is the activity ongoing or has been completed? If it has been completed add the completion dates. |
Number of seperate enterprises/organization reached via this project
|
IIESoc was very vendor focused, with participation from Juniper, Huawei, Ciscos of the world
|
Refer communication strategy
|
Number of seperate enterprises/organization that registered for our webinars
|
In APNIC Region: 141; Total: 271 |
Number of Registrations for the IPv6 webinar series
|
n/a
|
Refer Project Implementation
|
Number of Registrations for the IPv6 webinar series
|
In APNIC Region: 271; Total: 743 |
Gender Equality and Inclusion:[Back to table of contents]
In the execution of this project, we have a good record of gender equality and inclusion-- This project is co-led by Nalini. She is also the main trainer for the classes.
- We have 2 women as part of the core team that meets weekly - Praneet Kaur (inseego) and Priyanka Sinha (TCS). They have been an integral part of the core team. Thus, we have equal representation for sexes in our project team (reaching gender equality)
- Apart from the project team,
- Shwetha Bhandari has been lending her IPv6 expertise in various aspects such as setting up IPv6 Lab.
- IIESoc has 2 women as board members and 1 as an advisory member. The partner organization INTC has 3 women as board members.
- As with most tech initiatives, we still have a long way to go to reach equal participation in the webinars and labs. This is indicative of the imbalance in the industry in general and the enterprise tech sector in particular.
- Hoping to lead by example and showcasing strong leadership in project implementation to inspire more participation.
- Further, the co-lead of the project is also from the queer community.
Project Communication Strategy:[Back to table of contents]
We used the following communication techniques to reach the target audience of enterprises, universities, government agencies, and anyone interested in IPv6 deployment with good reach and continuous engagement:- Emails - Both IIESoc and INTC have a substantial email list based on the past events that were used to reach out to potential attendees. Regular reminders before each class/lab are sent and engagement is maintained with the attendees.
- Social Media - Used IIESoc social media presence on Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook. IIESoc also has a big WhatsApp group, which was used for regular updates.
- Mailing List - Regular updates on IETF-India, INNOG, SANOG, APNIC-talk mailing list
- University Coordinators - Two university coordinators were identified to evangelize the effort with university partners, who did a good job in connecting us to the universities.
- Partnerships - Help from ISOC Rural SIG, VSIG, APNIC foundation to further reach out
- Word of mouth - Nothing can replace word of mouth and in our case that has been substantial. We have seen cases where our email was forwarded across the organizations as direct recommendations for more to attend.
- Survey - We have done surveys of the enterprises and universities to learn more about their IPv6 deployment journey
- Direct email for queries - We have received questions, queries, a plea for help from all over -- from India, Papa New Genie, Oman to just name a few. This openness and interactions provide opportunities for frank discussions outside of the structure of class/labs.
- Open Discussion on IPv6 deployment - We set up a monthly zoom call for anyone with IPv6 deployment questions to attend and socialize with other like-minded individuals. We could hear deployment experience, fear, queries and try to make good connections.
- Recordings and Foils - Recordings and foils of the classes and labs are made readily available on the website and emails. A good number of offline views are observed by those who were not able to attend live.
- Asia: 271
- North America: 330
- Africa: 44
- South America: 6
- Europe: 38
- Oceania: 26
- Middle East: 28
- Total nonprofit attendees: 90
- Total academic attendees: 78
- Total military attendees: 6
- Total govt. attendees: 90
Recommendations and Use of Findings:[Back to table of contents]
Recommendations- Hands-on Labs along with classes are very useful for operations
- Providing YouTube recordings and foils after each session is useful
- Multi-pronged communication strategy
- The ability for free form discussion on emails, other calls, outside of classes
- Working with universities as a case study for IPv6 deployment
- Subject Matter Experts who could answer real-world IPv6 deployment issues
- Building an IPv6 community, linking new bees and old-timers
- IPv6 deployment has taught us that this is a very long process and patience is key, the results will take time
- Touch base more often to make sure everyone is in sync
- This is a long process, and we must commit to this long-term. We need to make sure we continue with this work over many years and refine our vision and outputs
- Initially, we thought govt would be key targets; but realized universities are a fertile ground to deploy IPv6. They can also be a perfect partner for the further development of deployment-template, guidelines, deeper research in this area.
- Surveys were used extensively to also learn the real pain points of the enterprise