IPV6 and cloud computing migrate simultaneously

There is a clear benefit in planning a IPv6 migration at the same time as the enterprise cloud migration-they are problematic to perform alone. Cloud providers should recognize that some organizations may review their IPV6 capabilities and cloud services simultaneously.

The main advantage of implementing IPV6 and cloud deployments at the same time is that IPV6 has superior technical advantages when deploying scalable and easily managed cloud infrastructures. Therefore, an efficient cloud strategy should be implemented in an environment where the next generation of infrastructure should be applied, which should include IPV6.

In addition, some companies are adding cloud and IPv6 migrations to their long-term and short-term planning. They found that the similarity between the two (in the road map and the lifecycle) would lead to more efficient execution, while reducing duplication of effort.

In terms of cost-effectiveness, the sooner you plan IPv6 migrations, the more it helps to avoid work redo, while ensuring that IPV6 is implemented quickly in the regular update cycle.

Cloud providers supporting IPV6

After analysis, the authors found that the following 16 cloud providers actually provided native IPV6 network support, and they were able to help the enterprise migrate to cloud services (the following providers are listed alphabetically):

Bluelock (IaaS) (December 2011 Gartner IaaS Magic Quadrant leader)

Brightbox Bae (IaaS)

CloudFlare (PaaS)

Dropbox (IaaS)

Gigatux (IaaS)

HP (IaaS, PAAs, and SaaS)

Linode (IaaS)

NTT Communications (IaaS)

Oxygen Cloud (IaaS)

Rackspace (IaaS and PaaS) (December 2011 Gartner IaaS Magic Quadrant Vision Enterprise)

SoftLayer Technologies (IaaS) (December 2011 Gartner Excel Magic Quadrant)

Tata Communications (IaaS and SaaS)

Virtacore Bae (IaaS)

Windows Azure (PaaS)

Windstream Communications (IaaS)

XO Communications (IaaS and PAAs)

To do this, businesses that develop cloud planning and evaluate cloud service providers should be closely focused on supporting IPV6 providers and IPV6 capabilities. Enabling IPV6 Services, a cloud service provider that provides infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is more useful than a software-service (SaaS) or platform-Service (PaaS) provider.

However, when considering corporate public or mixed cloud delivery models, cloud providers must provide their services through IPV6, and performance must be equal to or better than the services provided through IPV4. At the very least, they must provide a clear IPV6 plan for customers adopting cloud strategy.

Evaluate cloud service providers that support IPV6

During the preparation of the April 2012 North American IPV6 Conference, we analyzed the IPV6 support of various cloud service providers. We have identified a number of providers announcing IaaS, PAAs, and SaaS through native IPv6. Our analysis is based on public information and questionnaires issued separately to the provider.

We surveyed 41 cloud providers and assessed their native IPV6 access support. If they do not have this information on their website, then we will contact them directly. Overall, 16 providers indicated that they supported IPV6 's native access, and 16 said they had not yet supported IPv6 's native access (or said they would soon support it); Another 8 providers did not respond to e-mail or phone inquiries, or did not publish the information on the website.

Enterprise Public cloud strategy needs IPV6 support

If an enterprise develops cloud strategies that contain public or virtual private clouds, they need cloud providers to support IPV6 access on all services. At the very least, the provider should provide a roadmap to help the enterprise with IPV6 planning and reduce the risk of the migration process.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)