Hungary Opens First IPv6 Education Lab at Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Using Cisco Technology

BUDAPEST, Hungary – September 16, 2011 – Cisco and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) announced the first laboratory for training and research in the new Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) in Hungary.

Located at the Department of Telecommunications at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, the lab is an integral part of an international network of IPv6 training and research facilities and is connected to some 20 similar centers around the globe.Cisco donated the lab's networking and communications equipment.

Key Facts / Highlights:

* Operating under the umbrella of the 6DEPLOY-2 project funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Program, the objective of the lab is to provide an open environment for validating solutions, network setups and applications built on the next-generation Internet Protocol, known as IPv6. Internet experts, including academics, government administrators and telecom specialists, can be trained both on-site and through virtual access in innovative information and communications technology solutions relating to the adoption of IPv6.

* In terms of technology and equipment, the lab is a replica of other IPv6 education labs established under the umbrella of 6DEPLOY-2. The labs are interconnected through GEANT, the pan-European data network dedicated to the research and education communities.The resources can be used redundantly: if someone needs to conduct a test and one of the labs is busy at the time, the researcher can be directed to another lab and use its equipment remotely.

* The laboratory will be managed by the university's Cisco® Networking Academy® team. Itwill also help the university's collaboration with the 6DEPLOY-2 project funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Program, whose aim is disseminating knowledge about IPv6 and supporting its deployment.

* As the world prepares for the adoption of the next-generation Internet Protocol, education on IPv6 becomes crucial. The IPv6 lab in Budapest offers the opportunity to develop a solid knowledge base on the new protocol, which will help ensure the continuity of operation of institutions and companies.

Backgrounder on IPv6

* Due to the spectacular growth in the adoption of the Internet and Internet-based technologies worldwide, public IP address space is becoming increasingly scarce. The convergence of technologies and the increasing number of devices on the Internet both require new address space.
* According to estimates from Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), by 2020, there will be approximately 50 billion devices connected to the Internet, each of them using one or more IP addresses. In 2008, the number of things connected to the Internet exceeded the number of people on earth. By 2020, this ratio is expected to be 1:6, meaning more than six connected devices for every person on earth.
* IPv6 means a quantum leap compared with IPv4 in terms of available address space. With the IPv6 protocol, there will be enough IP addresses to allocate 100 addresses to every atom on the earth's surface. There could be 4.8 trillion addresses for every star in the known universe.
* In January 2011, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) allocated the last free IPv4 blocks to the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). APNIC, the Regional Internet Registry covering Asia Pacific started to distribute the last available block on April 18, 2011. RIPE-NCC, covering Europe, Middle East and parts of Central Asia, is expected to do the same in the first quarter of 2012.
* As an early pioneer in IPv6 technology, Cisco has been a driving force in developing IPv6 through various standards bodies, including the Internet Engineering Task Force, and has been shipping a wide variety of end-to-end IPv6 products and solutions.
* BME has been covering IPv6 as part of its education and research portfolio ever since the standard's development has started.
* In June 2011, Cisco participated in World IPv6 Day, a 24-hour global "test drive" of IPv6. In Hungary, several organizations, including BME as well as the national research and education network operated by the National Information Infrastructure Development Institute (NIIFI), successfully participated in World IPv6 Day.

Supporting Quotes:

* Sándor Imre, head of department, BME Department of Telecommunications

"To train internationally competitive Hungarianengineers, it is indispensable to have a world-class technology environment and to focus on cutting-edge R&D topics. The Telecommunications Department of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, in collaboration with Cisco, has reached a landmark by launching the laboratory focusing on IPv6, the technology which will fundamentally define information technology for the next decade."

* János Mohácsi, deputy director general of NIIFI, a 6DEPLOY-2 project expert and tutor

"The cooperation between NIIFI and Cisco in the IPv6 area started more than 10 years ago. At that time, when launching the 6NET project, it was already clear that the time for changing the Internet protocol will come. The 6NET, 6DISS and 6DEPLOY projects promoted the education of IPv6 professionals worldwide. The objective of the Budapest lab is to initiate a similar development in Hungary, multiplying the number of IPv6 experts. The fact that the IPv6 lab is connected to a Cisco Networking Academy is offering a good synergy."

* Istvan Papp, director, EMEAR Public Sector, Cisco

"The introduction of IPv6 is no longer an option. By providing the lab equipment, we wanted to contribute to the education of IPv6 specialists in Hungary and thus help the country's transition to the new protocol. IPv6 is also paving the way to new technologies such as machine-to-machine communication, mobility or intelligent sensors. Participating in an international network of training and research facilities, the knowledge center at BME will be able to connect to the bloodstream of international innovation based on IPv6."

How and Why IPv6 Will Be Used in the Future

By Mae Kowalke

Internet Procotol Version 4 (IPv4), the communications protocol used to route data packets across computer networks, remains the foundation of most Internet communications. However, it is steadily being superseded by IPv6, which was published by the Internet Engineering Task Force in 1998.

IPv6 was developed ostensibly to deal with the problem of IPv4 address exhaustion, but it is also a more robust and flexible protocol better suited for today’s network communications.

In addition to more address space, IPv6 improves on its predecessor with support for a variety of functions, including multicasting, mandatory network layer security, mobility and simplified router processing.

Alcatel-Lucent recently discussed Alcatel-Lucent and the World IPv6 Day, explaining why the expanded address capabilities of IPv6 matters to consumers.

“IPv4 allows for only 4 billion unique IP addresses – for a world approaching 7 billion in population,” Alcatel-Lucent said on its website. “And many of us are connecting with one, two, or more devices. This Internet of Things is expected to connect 15 billion devices by 2015.”

Although IPv6 works behind the scenes, its capabilities will soon impact the Internet experience of millions, and then billions, of people around the world.

Alcatel-Lucent has been working for years to help with IPv6 deployments. For example, the company’s 7750 SR multiservice edge router has supported IPv6 since 2007. The company says on its website that this particular router can be used to form the foundation of what it calls a High Leverage Network – one in which all resources and capabilities of the network are used to their full potential.

Since the last available blocks of IPv4 addresses were doled out to network operators this past February, IPv6 is poised to start doing more and more of the behind-the-scenes heavy lifting required to make the Internet work.

Moving to IPv6 will be a gradual process, Alcatel-Lucent predicts, with service providers eventually using devices like the 7750 SR for dual-stack routing, and in the interim continuing to support IPv4 packet encapsulation and address mapping.

IPv6 is already in widespread use by the U.S. Department of Defense and network operators in the Asia Pacific. And, many PC and laptop operating systems support IPv6. The new protocol enables higher-speed mobile connectivity and better quality of service, among other things –prerequisites for 4G LTE and overall network evolution.

“Service providers and enterprises worldwide have begun to focus on interim and long term architectures using the next generation IP version 6 addresses, all while keeping end-users worldwide from experiencing any changes in their Internet browsing experience,” Alcatel-Lucent explained.