Ip Address Identifier

Data Centers & IPv6: Why It Matters to You

TCP/IP (Trasmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the technology that devices use to interact. IP addresses are the unique identifier that devices use to communicate to each other over the Global Internet. At the inception of the Internet, IP version 4 (IPv4) was and is currently the most widespread protocol used to communicate. By their binary nature, IP addresses are a finite resource. IPv4, specifically, is approaching full deployment globally. The keeper of the free address pool, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, (IANA), is fully depleted of IPv4 resources.

Also, the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Registry, 1 of the 5 regional registries that report to IANA, is fully depleted of IPv4 resources. Another, the American Registry for Internet Numbers, (ARIN), is not far behind. To continue the operation of the Internet, Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) was created. This address space is vast–more than 170 undecillion addresses–and unlikely to be depleted in the next 50 years. Networks wishing to grow, or new networks wishing to enter the market, must transition to include both IPv6 and IPv4, eventually transitioning entirely to the new protocol.

This evolution will require an entirely new paradigm of IP resource management and will affect all things wishing to communicate via the Internet – including everything inside your data center from HVACs to lights, security to VFDs. Simply put, this protocol is something you need to know about, even if  you don’t need to become a network engineer.

Data centers have been evolving at a very rapid pace since the mid 2000s. We’ve seen significant effort and results in energy efficiencies through the reduction of PUE from industry averages of 2.0 (1) to designs that now claim below 1.2 and even 1.1. This effort has primarily focused on both mechanical and electrical efficiency gains such as hot/cold row containment, direct/indirect evaporative cooling, the move away from raised floors, the move to higher voltage power supplies in servers thereby avoiding step down losses, and much, much more.

Transparency Has Helped Industry Become More Evolved

The data center industry has further benefited from more transparency provided by data center experts like Google, Yahoo, eBay, Amazon and now Facebook . These forward thinking companies have opened their “kimonos” so to speak, shedding light on their work, data, and future designs so that all data center operators can learn from others’ experiences.

Social ENUM Platform Enables Facebook & Twitter Phone Calls

ENUM resolves phone numbers into a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) or IP addresses. It's basically "DNS" for phone numbers, mapping a person's phone number to the person's IP address on the network for routing the call over IP over a carrier's network. ENUM offered the promise of a single point of contact for all communication devices, that has largely been unfulfilled. Now, with the exponential rise of social media networks, people are starting to self-identify themselves with their Facebook username or Twitter account ID more than their phone number. Today, social media users want the ability to communicate with someone via their social media ID, such as their Facebook account ID or Twitter ID instead of using antiquated phone numbers. That's the goal of Telesocial , a company still in stealth-mode, but expected to launch in beta next month. Telesocial offers an API platform that leverages social media networks and ENUM to enable widespread name resolution to user's devices which will enhance communications and offer a value-add to operators. Telesocial converts social media usernames into phone numbers using what they call the "Social Enum" and transmits the calls to the appropriate networks. Eric Stone explained, "We've been working for three years on a social ENUM and operator media routing system for delivering core services to devices. For whatever reason we think that number one, voice isn't really integrated into your phone system, it's so antiquated. It just doesn't work on the social web and that's really where carriers have been losing. We really looked at the problems and we looked at the business model as well. We saw how things don't integrate well between your mobile, your wireless, your landline, and the social web." He continued, "We then looked at the business model of the VoIP industry and examined why or why does this not work, and then really saw the obvious - that the carriers are the value chain here. And so we want to empower them with something. What we developed is an inter-operator social ENUM system that lets operators route things as they would any normal network device to the social web. They way we do that is custom record types and rules and security around the system that is like ENUM. It's like taking a carrier ENUM system and doing all the things you wish it could do, but they can't." He went on to explain that Telesocial is giving carriers a new type of "origination" service.

Introduction to IP Address Management

IP Address Management Principles and Practice

The TCP/IP guide, a comprehensive, illustrated Internet protocols reference

TCP/IP professional reference guide

IP location