Someone recently asked about critical Internet Infrastructure. I have been pondering this and I would submit the communication protocol as the most critical Infrastructure component. Without IPv4 we wouldn’t have an internet. Since IPv4 is becoming obsolete, IPv6 will be the most critical component and supporting the migration from IPv4 to IPv6 will be the most critical activity on the internet infrastructure for the next generation.

In descending order after that, I would suggest (in some sort of critical order):

• IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force)
• high-level routers, servers, inter-domain communications, Domain Name Servers, etc.
• Routers, switches, -> the hardware that implements the communication protocols
• Transport agreements between the backbone network providers. Some sort of guaranteed service level/capabilities.
• Network Neutrality – Carriers, ISPs, can’t block or degrade traffic passing through just because they offer a competing service.
• Bandwidth – the more the better
• Reliability – multiple connectivity between nets – Can’t let one net get cut off from the internet.
• Reliability- Quality of Service – be able to provide some sort of QOS guarantee for real-time links
• Services
• Applications

Personally, one of the IPv6 applications I am looking forward to is multicasting. A lot of the IPv4 HW doesn’t seem to be able to handle multicasting today. I hope that the next generation will. And that the backbone networks make it part of the basic service offering and share connections between each other. IETF has had a variety of proposals on how to make multicasting work, I think one or two of them should become part of the basic standard that all hardware and services will support.