Infoblox Introduces 6Map, a Free Tool for Getting Started with IPv6
Infoblox has introduced Infoblox 6Map, a free interactive tool to help network administrators and network architects get started with planning the transition from IPv4 to IPv6.
The existing IPv4 standard allows for only 4.3 billion Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and the pool of readily available IPv4 addresses has already been exhausted in much of Europe and Asia, and available IPv4 addresses in North America are expected to run out sometime this summer.
The solution is IPv6, the successor to IPv4. IPv6 addresses are difficult for humans to understand or compare—making manual management almost impossible. IPv6 also creates new challenges and opportunities for network architects and administrators, calling for a very different approach to planning and deployment than the long-established procedures for IPv4.
Infoblox 6Map is an online tool that uses a question-and-answer format to create a printable map showing how IPv6 addresses might be assigned throughout an enterprise network. The guiding principles behind Infoblox 6Map reflect the shift from famine to feast in moving from IPv4 to IPv6: Plan for the number of subnets, not the number of host addresses; assign subnets in a way that leaves many in reserve for future use; and define as many subnets as needed.
“IPv6 provides a foundation that opens up networks to future opportunities such as cloud architecture and the Internet of Things, and Infoblox is committed to providing enterprise-grade solutions for easily and automatically managing IPv6 deployments.” said Tom Coffeen, chief IPv6 evangelist at Infoblox.