» | Sudanow Magazine

KHARTOUM (SUDANOW)— Experts fear that exhaustion of internet addresses could jeopardize use of net and numbers of internet users, and they recommend transfer from fourth to sixth generation. This may occur in the near future with the imminent exhaustion of the internet addresses which are presently available for global distribution.

This problem at present worries the computer experts worldwide since the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) has announced the exhaustion of the distributable internet addresses of Version 4. This warning has prompted the experts to call upon the companies to immediately mobilize their resources for moving to the next generation, Version 6, which is of a wider capacity, for confronting the problem ahead of its occurrence.

The National Telecommunication Authority has issued a statement declaring that it has drawn up a multi-phase five-year plan, 2011-2015, aimed at facilitating a smooth transition from the Internet Protocol Version Four (IPv4) to Internet Protocol Version Six (IPv6). This move followed an official announcement by IANA on 3 February 2011of the exhaustion of the distributable internet addresses of Version 4 indicating that it has distributed the last five groups of addresses evenly to the five regional distributors in accordance with the continental division of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Dr. Mohamed Awad al-Sheikh, the computer lecturer in the Sudan University for Science and Technology, says it must be understood that the ultimate internet users are not immediately affected by this issue but those who are immediately affected are the providers of the service, that is, the communication companies, the research centers and the telecommunication networks, in general. The internet users will be affected indirectly and they may not even fee the change; they will, rather, benefit from the positive merits of the transition to Version 6 of the internet addresses system.

In order to make the problem understandable, we may resemble the internet addresses to the land telephone lines of a certain net; if the capacity of that net in a certain area is 10,000 and all those lines have run out, the communication company will not be able to provide a telephone line to a new subscriber. Dr. Sheikh explains that the imminent running out of the internet addresses is closely similar to that of the telephone lines.

The expert further explains that the more the number of the users increases or the more their standards of living and welfare elevate and the numbers of the devices, including mobile sets, laptops and cameras, rise, the more will be their use the internet addresses and the less will be the quantities of the addresses to be distributed world-wide.

Dr. Sheikh defines the internet address by saying that each computer connected to the internet has what is known as the Internet Protocol Address with which other computers can identify its location. This address is a numerical identifier with a length of 32 dual figures. Each computer has a unique address that distinguishes it from other computers which are linked to the internet.. This numerical value address is divided into four sections, each one separated from the other with a dot. As it is difficult to remember those numbers, the internet protocol addresses are given easily remembered names known as Domain Names. These names are normally followed by three-letter suffixes indicating the type of the institution that uses the domain name.

Or it is URL which is an abbreviation of Uniform Resource Locator which means the internet address which we write in the address bar to display the website and takes the form of HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) or PTF (File Transfer Protocol). For example, the address of a page is: https://ar.wikipedia.org that includes: the protocol key, the computer name, the site name.

Each address must identify the name of the computer and most of the computer names are made up of the web server (which is the remote computer that provides the data to be sent once more to your computer which is www (World Wide Web), then the site name and the server name, com, and the www will be the address.

The Fourth Generation:

Sami Hassan Omer, the head of the Sudan task Force for Version 6 (SDv6TF) said: In 1981 IPv4 was endorsed as the basis for operation of the internet worldwide with a capacity of 4.2 billion subscribers, dual number. It was expected that this figure would meet the number of the users, but the communication and technological revolution and the amazing advance in the media made it easy to connect the computer, mobile, laptop and camera with the internet, leading to a wide use of internet addresses and ultimately to the exhaustion of those addresses, with the user needing 5 to 15 addresses in the average when paging the internet.

Most of the currently used addresses are of Version 4 which has been in operation for about three decades and, although it is flexible enough to continue providing internet addresses, it has begun approaching its final limits in recent years. This can be seen in the fast decrease in the remaining addresses which have, in fact, run out at IANA level. As regards our region, the Regional Registry for Internet Number Resources (AfriNIC) is expected to utilize all the available IPv4 addresses by mid-2014, and therefore the local servers will have an additional period that goes beyond 2015.

For his part, Dr. Sheikh explains that IPv4 is a system for proving the internet addresses. He considers this version as connected units that help the user to view what he is looking for and this system therefore requires a single precise definition; and the problem that has arisen was that the addresses are no longer sufficient because they use columns of 32 dual numbers due to the growing numbers of the devices which are connected to the internet. Several ways have been explored for the sustainability of IPv4 but all proved unviable in the long run, Dr. Sheikh said.

IPv6 is the solution: The rise of this problem led to several researches for developing the internet addresses, resulting in adoption of IPv6 which uses an area of a length of 128 dual numbers instead of the previous IPv4 which uses 32 dual numbers and, theoretically, the number of the addresses increased from 109x4 to 1013x34.

But limitation of the address area is not the only reason for switching to IPv6; as, in addition, IPv6 designers made use of the long experience of IPv4, retained the positive aspects and added numerous new properties that can meet the future internet demands, including the self-preparation property which helps the companies to spread a large group of desktop and portable devices in an efficient internet of good performance and acceptable cost.

Dr. Sheikh further explains that, in addition to changing the structure of the address, the conducted research and studies developed numerous properties that add to the security, quality and high speed of communication and internet operation and, at the same time retained the IPv4 merits.

The expert says that the cost of the transition will not be high because it will be in some of the components within those networks and operation programmes and probably some devices and equipment and if those companies and networks are using use modern devices and systems, they may not face any major problem.

Task Force:

The head of the Sudan Task Force for IPv6, Engineer Sami Hassan Omer, said, in order to follow up the National Telecommunication Authority five-year plan for dealing with the problem, the Task Force has been formed under the auspices of the Authority with wide participation of concerned experts, including academics, manufacturers, servers and organizers divided into three work groups of awareness, technological implementation and follow-up.

He main duty of the Task Force is to raise awareness of the positive impact of IPv6 implementation in the technological and economic environment on the communication and information technology and on shaping the opinion of the government of the Sudan, in addition to organizing lectures, workshops and seminars on IPv6. The Task Force also elucidates the possibility of the joint operation of the IPv6 and IPv4, encourages the operators to begin preparation for the transition to the IPv6, steps up coordination among the operators by persuading them to participate in join assignments. The Task Force also pinpoints the challenges that may be faced in case of endorsing IPv6, assessing its capacity of meeting the community demands. It follows up implementation of the five-year IPv6 transition plan and coordinates with other task forces (IPv6 TF).

Moreover, the Task Force will conduct a series of operations for transition assessment, establishment of pilot projects to be put in order according to their priorities, promoting coordination in the field of studies and research and encouragement of developing expertise in strategies of coexistence of IPv6 and IPv4 so as to facilitate the process of transition.

During preparation for the transition, the plan was implemented on schedule and the Authority undertook the initiative of highlighting the importance of the preparation for the transition. The upcoming stages require initiatives by other participants for complementing the efforts for carrying out all provisions of the plan. The communication companies which operate in the Sudan have to effectively take part in implementation of the plan, take positive steps and from this moment make arrangement to have their networks operate on both protocols (IPv6 and IPv4 before 2015), according to Engineer Omer.

ًWhat are the effective steps required to be taken by the companies for participation in implementation of the plan what arrangement they are required to make so that they can be able to operate on both protocols and what is required of the subscriber to prepare himself for using the new version?

The Communication Companies:

Canar Communication Company Engineer and IPv6TF member Hisham Sayyed says his company has already realized the problem and has made the required arrangements. He added that his company has long placed orders for additional addresses of the previous version by twice the number of its previous addresses of which it has 60% so far. Canar subscribers will not face any shortage in the number of addresses, he added.

Sayyed went on to say his company has begun arrangements for simultaneously operating on both protocols and has started making aware and encouraging its subscribers for using Version 6. He said an effective media campaign of informing and encouraging present and future users of the internet on the merits of Version 6 and limitations of Version 4 is an effective element of a smooth and flexible transition to the new protocol.

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