U.S. federal agencies ready for IPv6 D-Day (which is today)

next Administration is going to have to worry about how we push IPv6 adoption because IPv4 address space is going to run out, and we do have reasons from a security perspective to do this.”

For the next eighteen months, the focus on IPv6 in the federal market will be at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is expected to issue in July Version 1.0 of its Profile for IPv6 in the U.S. Government. This document will detail how IPv6 hardware and software will be procured and deployed in operational government IT systems. “There’s definitely going to be a lot of work going on in IPv6 after June 30,” Tseronis says. “We see much more of a collaborative relationship not only in the CIO Council and our IPv6 working group but with industry. We have a two-year program set up with NIST where they are going to work on an IPv6 compliance and interoperability testing program.” Tseronis describes OMB’s IPv6 mandate and the 30 June deadline as Mile Marker 1 in a marathon-long transition to IPv6 for federal agencies. “We’ve been having this conversation about IPv6 for two years. We’ve raised the awareness about IPv6,” Tseronis says. “If I’m a CIO and I’m supposed to be forward-looking, I’ll be looking at my IT refresh budget, I’ll be looking at the age of my equipment, and I’ll be anticipating IPv6 capabilities out there like security, multicasting and the ability to do more mobile communications. …That’s what I hope agencies are doing.” Tsesronis says the Federal CIO Council’s IPv6 Working Group will offer guidance to federal agencies about re-architecting their networks to support IPv6 in dual-stack mode initially and eventually to migrate to native IPv6. “We need to get some short-term goals for the federal government for the next two years out because IPv6 isn’t a one-trick pony and it’s done on June 30,” Tseronis says. “June 30 is going to be a great day, but now it’s about keeping the momentum going.”

Carriers say most civilian agencies will deploy IPv6 through the Networx contract, a ten-year telecom program open to all federal agencies. Networx carriers include AT&T, Verizon, Qwest, Sprint, and Level 3 Communications. “Anybody who buys services off the Networx contracts will have IPv6 capabilities,” Evans says. “That was another big key thing with our IPv6 strategy. All the agencies are moving off [predecessor contract] FTS 2001 and transitioning to Networx…[Agencies] are going to be able to buy IPv6 as a service from those providers.” Sprint, for example, has submitted a contract modification to its Networx Enterprise contract for dual-stack IPv6 and IPv4 service. “It’s probably a matter of days or weeks for approval,” White says. “IPv6 is something [the agencies] are expecting the carriers to take care of for them.” Global Crossing, which provides IPv6 services on the Networx Universal contract as a subcontractor to AT&T, says the carrier has received more inquiries from federal agencies about its IPv6 services during the last ninety days but has not closed any sales yet. “The IPv6 discussions oftentimes evolve into deeper technical discussions on next-generation technologies like MPLS, VOIP, and converged services,” says Scott Camarotti, vice president of sales for federal markets for Global Crossing. “Those are some of the byproducts of the OMB IPv6 mandate.”

Even though sales of IPv6 services remain weak, carriers say OMB’s IPv6 mandate has had a significant impact in the federal market, particularly on civilian agencies. The Department of Defense and DHS have long-standing plans to adopt IPv6 as quickly as possible for its enhanced network security, mobility and the ability to support sensors and other embedded devices. “IPv6 is going to keep on going” after 30 June, predicts Paul Girardi, engineering team lead for AT&T Government Solutions. “Because of the mandate, agencies understand that it has to be part of every major procurement. Everything we are looking at has IPv6 requirements. Also, at the end of the day there will come a time where you won’t be able to get IPv4 addresses. The whole industry has to go this way whether we like it or not.”

Click to see: Chart of OMB’s IPv6 mandate