Accelerating Adoption of IPv6

Abstract: It has long been known that the number of unique IPv4-addresses would be exhausted because of the rapid expansion of the Internet and because countries such as China and India are becoming more and more connected to the rest of the world. IPv6 is a new version of the Internet Protocol which is supposed to succeed the old version, IPv4, in providing more addresses and new services. The biggest challenge of information and communication technology (ICT) today is to transition from IPv4 to IPv6. The purpose of this thesis is to accelerate the adoption of IPv6 by highlighting the benefits of it compared to IPv4. Although the need for more IP-addresses is the most urgent incentive for the transition to IPv6, other factors also exist. IPv6 offers many improvements to IPv4 which are necessary for the continued expansion of Internet-based applications and services. Some argue that we do not need to transition to IPv6 as the problems with IPv4, mainly the addressshortage, can be solved in other ways. One of the methods of doing this is by extending the use of Network Address Translators (NATs), but the majority of experts and specialists believe that NATs should not be seen as a long-term solution. Another difficulty with the new protocol is explaining its benefits and areas of use to both the business world and the public. Understanding these benefits are necessary in order create awareness of these benefits, thus to accelerating the adoption of IPv6. This thesis aims to explain the incentives for both businesses and the public to adopt IPv6.