Maintaining IPv4 is going to get expensive: expert

Companies dependent on the Internet for their businesses shouldn’t wait too long to migrate from IPv4 (Internet Protocal version 4) to IPv6.

Associate Prof Dr Omar Amer Abouabdalla said at the IPv6 Forum Malaysia that the cost of maintaining an IPv4 system is expected to go up significantly by 2018.

“Maintaining the old version is going to be expensive as the number of addresses is nearing exhaustion,” he said.

The IPv4 standard, which is more than 30 years old, can handle about 4.29 billion addresses so companies cannot wait any longer, he said.

IPv6, on the other hand, can handle a staggering number of addresses – 3.4 followed by 38 zeroes. The protocol was first published in 1998 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), an international group that develops technical standards to make the Internet work better.

According to Google Statistics, Malaysia’s IPv6 usage stands at 14.85% and it’s trailing Japan (17.1%) and India (22.23%).

He said IPv6 is important to the implementation of the Internet of Things (IoT), as many more devices will be needing IP addresses.

IPv6 network consulting firm FMJ Technologies said it’s hoping to get about 300 organisations in the next two years to make the switch. Founder and chief executive officer Ahmad Faez Bahari said it estimates the cost to be about RM200,000.