Lockheed Martin readies for federal IPv6 transition

Dec. 5, 2007
Pilot program tries to simulate transition from IPv4 to IPv6

Lockheed Martin, a leading government contractor and systems integrator, is putting together a pilot project for switching from IPv4 to IPv6. The move from IPv4 to IPv6 is a move that, at is core, adds more potential IP addresses. It's a necessary move, since IPv4 (as in IP version 4) is limited to a paltry few billion IP addresses.

The transition from IPv4 to IPv6 is hitting the U.S. government first. In August 2005, the Office of Management Budget set the ball rolling with Memorandum M-05-22 by prescribing the federal government IT goal of switching to the new IP configuration standards. OMB Memorandum M-05-22, “Transition Planning for Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)”, established the goal of enabling all Federal government agency network backbones to support the next generation of the Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) by June 30, 2008.

To get ready for this transition, Lockheed Martin, which is already anticipating some of this government transition work, is doing a pilot program.

"The IPv6 transition pilot is comprised of a dynamic team of engineers and architects and leading industry partners collaborating to simulate a federal agency’s transition from IPv4 to IPv6," said Bruce Sinclair, CEO of Hexago, which is one of Lockheed's partners in the pilot program. "The IPv6 transition pilot will benefit federal agencies by solving the complexities of the transition through best 'industry practices' in a realistic environment."

The move to IPv6 will clearly impact the security industry, which in recent years has seen an influx of new technologies that IP-addressable, such as surveillance cameras, storage devices, access control devices and more.

Excellent references on the IPv6 Transition:
• Federal CIO guidance and background on the transition:
www.cio.gov/documents/IPv6_Transition_Guidance.doc


• Good article on IP technology in transition:
www.enterpriseitplanet.com/networking/features/article.php/3678681