1.) Ipv6 and DNS

Dear Soutiman,
I am Imran working in a software development firm. Your interview with Chandan Menderitta called 'New Addresses for your Network' in the May issue was very interesting and informative. It certainly is a good idea to be prepared in advance for any IP address crunch that may happen.

I have a few queries. Will you respond to them please?
1. Suppose I connect to an ISP's DNS where all the devices have IPV4 addresses. What will happen if I send an IPv6 request, how will the DNS resolve the request?
2. Do you think that IPv6 is the complete IP solution? After around 30 years don't you think we will need an Ipv7?
3. Who has designed IPv6?

Regards
Imran

Dear Imran,
I am happy that you find the article interesting and informative. I had forwarded your queries to Chandan, and he has got back to me with replies.

1. IPv6 has to be end-to-end. If you send an IPv6 query, it has to be understood by the end station. Since IPv6 uses its own DNS system, the end station and the DNS server will need to have v6. Though there are possibilities of having v6-v4 translation mechanisms, one has to make sure that the DNS server acting from the v6 side should have the knowledge of the same. For more information please refer to RFC# 2874 and 3056.

2. The total number of addresses in v6 is 340, 282, 366, 920, 938, 463, 463, 374, 607, 431, 768, 211, 456. Looking at such a large address space and the history of IP, one can safely assume that this will be good enough for the next 30 years.

3. IPv6 is being developed/designed by IETF and they have various working groups handling different aspects of v6. You can refer to www.ietf.org/html.charters/ipv6-charter.html for more on this.

Thanks for writing.

2.) VoIP for every one

Dear Minu,
'Net calls: There's room for every one' in the May issue of the Network Magazine was a very informative and well-written piece. I work at NISIET which is an autonomous body of the Ministry of SSI, Government of India. It has a premier training institution and we had conducted a national level seminar called 'VOIP - Techno-legal challenges in India' in the second week of June.

We also plan to conduct Post Graduate Diploma courses on VOIP. I seek your help in locating expert paper presenters, solution providers, developers and members of faculty. I will be grateful if you mail me the contact details of the people who you got in touch when writing the article.

Regards,
K Durga Prasad
Head-CCIT
NISIET, Hyderabad

Dear Mr Prasad,
Thank you for appreciating the article. I hope your seminar was a grand success. The people I interacted with have been quoted in the article. You can let me know if you want to contact any one among them.

www.ispai.com also lists the contact details of all those people.

3.) Net Calls

Dear Minu,
Your article 'Net Calls: There's room for Everyone' in the May issue of Network Magazine is very good. I have a couple of queries.

In India there are many ISPs that hope to start IP Telephony services. International companies like Net2Phone, DialPad.com, Mediaring.com have also started similar service. But is it legal for a home user to use an international card to make overseas calls? Can a user purchase a calling card with a credit card?

Regards
Hasit Mankad
Aastha Network Solution

Dear Mr Mankad,
Thank you for appreciating the article.

Answering to your doubts, Net telephony services are now offered by most ISPs in India. All these service providers have tied up with companies like Net2Phone, DialPad.com, and Mediaring.com. Purchasing these cards is legal and can be availed by both home and corporate users.

Using a credit card is perfectly fine because it is only a payment medium.

4.) Broadband at home

Dear Brian,
I read your article on Broadband in Network Magazine May 2002. Your forecast about the future Broadband scenario was interesting. As a domestic consumer I would like to know if Broadband can be used in the household for Internet connectivity. Will it be too costly? Will the cost of Internet connectivity come down if Broadband connectivity services become popular?

Regards
Dr Raju

Dear Dr Raju,

In India, the various forms of Broadband Access for the home are:

1. Cable (TV)
2. DSL
3. Fiber Optic Broadband

Cable TV operators in your area may offer Internet access over the cable connection. The advantage of this method is that you can use the same connection for both regular TV and Internet access. It is a cost-effective method and the costs are mainly for the Cable modem and splitter.

DishNet offers DSL broadband connectivity. The advantage of this method is that it uses the existing phone line. Like cable, the costs are mainly for equipment at the customers premises (the hub and DSL modem).

The third form of Internet access, which is yet to catch up is fiber optic connectivity. Right now this is not cost-effective for the home user. So you can explore the first two options. Speak to the service provider and ask about the various plans offered. You can also get this information from the service provider's website.