Re: IPv6 Default Allocation - What size allocation are you giving out

[Roland Dobbins <rdobbins () arbor net>]

On Oct 9, 2014, at 8:31 AM, Mark Andrews <marka () isc org> wrote:

> As for only two subnets, I expect lots of equipment to request prefixes in the future not just traditional routers.

I'm expecting every molecule in every compound to have an embedded IPv6 address which can be read via NFC or some 
similar technology; and every nanomachine which is pumped into every heart patient to clear out arterial plaque to have 
one; and every windowblind in every window in every house and apartment and condominium and so forth to have one; etc.  
And for the vast majority of those addresses to be limited-duration, one-time-use addresses, and for their address 
space never to be recovered and resubmitted back into the free address pool.

Which is one reason why I think that this trend of encouraging overly profligate allocation of IPv6 addresses is 
ill-considered.

We've already seen the folly of /64s for point-to-point links in terms of turning routers and layer-3 switches into 
sinkholes.  Do we really want to turn each and every network, no matter how small, into a 'strange attractor' for 
potentially significant amounts of irrelevant and undesirable traffic?

Yes, I fully understand how huge the IPv6 address space really is - but I also believe that the general conception of 
what will constitute a node is extremely shortsighted, even by those who are evangelizing the so-called 'Internet of 
Things', and that a huge proportion of the IPv6 address space will eventually end up being allocated for 
limited-duration, one-time use in applications such as those cited above.  I also believe that we need to drastically 
expand our projected timescales for the utility of IPv6, while keeping those address-hungry potential applications in 
mind.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Roland Dobbins <rdobbins () arbor net> // <http://www.arbornetworks.com>

                   Equo ne credite, Teucri.

                          -- Laocoön