Howard's message on this topic should stand as the last word, but I just can't help sharing my thoughts from lunch. ;-)
Using the 640 KB argument to talk about wasted space in the 128-bit IPv6 address space is comparing apples to oranges. No, it may be like comparing cherries to watermelons. No, I take that back. I think we're talking sub-atomic particles to the universe! High-end PCs today maybe use 1,000 times the memory we thought they would use when we first limited it to 640 KB. Going from a 32-bit address space to a 128-bit address space is a 2^96 increase, however! OK, I better get back to configuring my washing machine. Let me know if my thinking is full of suds. Thanks. Priscilla At 10:59 AM 5/1/02, Chris Charlebois wrote: >First of all, the idea of my washing machine having a globally routable >addess is a little scary. Someone could hack in and ruin my delicates. > >Second, in terms of waste, I understand what you are talking about when you >bring up the old "640K" arguement. I remember reading an article 10 years >ago saying that the 486 processor would never see the desktop, because it >was too powerful for anything other than servers. However, 128 bits *is* >alot, enough that you could take all the publicly routed IPv4 addresses, and >assign all of them to each square meter of the Earth's surface. Each square >meter (and that includes water) could be assigned a full 2^32 address >space. Until we start talking about extraterrestrial internets, I think >that 128 bit will do. > >Third, I agree that summarization is a good idea. But how should it be >implemented? I would think geographically. However, from my personally >experience, that wouldn't work out the best. I've been in a office building >in Minnesota and tracerouted a machine on another floor in the same >building. The path went from Mpls, to Chicago, to St. Louis and back. Any >intelligent summarization will have to be based on the telecommunication >providers rather than geography. Then you have issues of teleco moving, >merging, failing, reconfiguring, etc. I don't know that there is a good >permenent solution. ________________________ Priscilla Oppenheimer http://www.priscilla.com Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=43032&t=42913 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
