WebhostingDay 2009 and IPv6: "Spread the Love"
Rackspot, a spinoff of the Portuguese Internet service provider NFSI, is making a plea for IPv6 to participants at the WebhostingDay 2009 (WHD09) currently happening at Phantasialand in Bruehl near Cologne, Germany
Manuel Coelho, CIO of NFSI Telecom, expressed the usual arguments of addressing the diminishing address space with, and the technological benefits of, IPv6 at the conference. He appealed to web hosters and content providers to make the changeover sooner than later, in that later may end up being painful. His various graphics showed that only about 12% of the remaining IPv4 addresses are viable. His advice was to make first the Domain Name System IPv6-compliant, then e-mail services, finally web services.
The idea was for ISPs to "demand IPv6, not just ask for it." Coelho gave Google as an example of a recent IPv6 convert.
A practical question posed from the audience to Coelho and CTO Nuño Vieira nevertheless resulted in a somewhat disappointing answer. Coelho mentioned examples of diverse IPv6-compliant platforms and applications (such as Mozilla, Apache and PHP). But an audience member asked him about administration panels. Coelho was sad to say none as yet existed. NFSI Telecom was currently in talks with the Parallels virtualization and automation software maker, but nothing definite has come out of it. "You currently have to know how to configure it," says Coelho, "There's no easy interface. But it's only a question of time. The more that ask for it, the faster it will proceed."
The NSFI Telecom spinoff Rackspot has since a few months been offering a solution to get IPv6 addresses over a dual protocol stack using IPv4 addresses over 5-TByte instead of 2.5-TByte traffic, Coelho told this publication. The offering unfortunately doesn't extend to larger traffic areas, because "we want to propagate IPv6 but not ruin the company in the process." NFSI Telecom and Rackspot see its offering as an investment in the future: "at some point the time will come when IPv6 becomes necessary, and then things will be painless for NFSI and its customers," says Coelho. "Thirty percent of our customers have already taken our offer seriously."
More than 70% of the 850 or so servers in Coelho's data center run Linux, Debian and CentOS to be exact. NFSI has offered IPv4-IPv4 dual stacks since 2003. As we reported, a Linux Foundation workgroup announced that the U.S. Department of Defense certified that the Kernel is IPv6-capable. The Deep Space 6 portal has also been opened to provide Linux IPv6 enhancement support.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.
-
So Long, ArcoLinux
The ArcoLinux distribution is the latest Linux distribution to shut down.
-
What Open Source Pros Look for in a Job Role
Learn what professionals in technical and non-technical roles say is most important when seeking a new position.
-
Asahi Linux Runs into Issues with M4 Support
Due to Apple Silicon changes, the Asahi Linux project is at odds with adding support for the M4 chips.
-
Plasma 6.3.4 Now Available
Although not a major release, Plasma 6.3.4 does fix some bugs and offer a subtle change for the Plasma sidebar.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 First Release Candidate Now Available
Linux Torvalds has announced that the release candidate for the final release of the Linux 6.15 series is now available.
-
Akamai Will Host kernel.org
The organization dedicated to cloud-based solutions has agreed to host kernel.org to deliver long-term stability for the development team.