Today is World IPv6 Day — a 24-hour window for organisations to test out Internet Protocol v6, the successor to the old IPv4 addressing system.
Internationally, big names have backed World IPv6 Day, including Google, Facebook and content delivery network, Akamai. But a quick look at Akamai's handy IPv6 traffic tracker shows that, so far, IPv6 traffic from Australia has peaked at a mere four hits per second.
So who is in and who is out when it comes to testing the new addressing system that everyone, theoretically, has accepted as a necessity?
A number of Australian internet service providers' websites are running on dual-stack servers according to ipv6-test.com, earning the green tick of approval. This includes iiNet, Internode, TPG and South Australia's Adam Internet. However, the website of iiNet subsidiary, Westnet, is not IPv6-enabled. Nor are those of Exetel, Dodo or iPrimus. More worryingly, Optus.com.au, Telstra.com, Telstra.com.au and Bigpond.com don't validate.
As you would expect the Internet Society of Australia (ISOC-AU) validates (and bears a big green tick on its home page to prove it), as does the CSIRO's website. However, the Internet Industry Association and the Australian Computer Society are still stuck in IPv4 land.
However, perhaps saddest of all, the website of NBN Co — the company tasked with dragging Australia towards an always-on, gigabit-throughput society at the cost of $43 billion — does not validate (neither does www.nbn.gov.au). Really.
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.