NetScreen puts IPv6 in firewall beta

Emerging applications may force enterprises and service providers in North America to IPv6, Kosiur said. To conserve unique, public IP addresses, many network administrators hand out addresses just for use inside a closed area, but new applications may have trouble with that, he said. For example, without the additional addresses provided by IPv6, it may be hard to implement VoIP (voice over IP) in an organization and receive calls from outside. In addition, networks of environmental sensors such as air quality sensors or closed-circuit TV cameras are likely to demand too many unique public addresses to be set up under IPv4.

Data services for mobile phones also call for IPv6, according to NetScreen's Bavosa. A carrier could hand out a temporary IP address to every subscriber whenever a service was requested, rather than assigning permanent public IP addresses to each phone, but maintaining that system would be complicated and expensive, he said.

Vendors are moving toward implementing IPv6 on a wide range of equipment, including firewalls, routers, load-balancing equipment, and content caches, Kosiur said.

"If they have something to do with packet inspection, they're going to have to become IPv6-capable," he said.

The vendors got more motivation last month when the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced that starting Oct. 1 of this year, all systems bought or built for its Global Information Grid will have to support both IPv4 and IPv6.

"They kind of got a kick in the pants from the DOD," Kosiur said. "That's not a customer you can ignore."

NetScreen expects to introduce a version of the IPv6-compatible ScreenOS for pilot production networks, which will include more advanced IPv6 features, in the first half of next year. A version for production environments is expected in the second half of next year, according to a NetScreen statement. Prices have not been set for the two future products.