UAEnic adopts new IP protocol

UAEnic, which handles the '.ae' Internet domain name, has become the first administrator in the Middle East to obtain the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

Following two years of extensive testing with the country, Etisalat received the relevant authorisation from the Regional IP Address European (RIPE), the global governing body for IP.

Once fully implemented, IPv6 will increase the number of electronic appliances that can be connected to an Internet network by expanding the number of IP addresses available.

Security and mobility will also be improved. As soon as the relevant technical and administrative policy is put in place, the new addresses will be distributed to the local community. IPv6 is an evolution of the current IPv4, which is running out of individual IP addresses due to the explosive growth of the Web in recent years.

Many products, including the major computer operating systems, now support IPv6. By increasing the IPv6 addresses from 32 bits to 128 bits, the number of available IP addresses will rise from 2.4 billion to hundreds of billions of addresses.

"Essentially an IP address is a unique set of coded numbers that allow appliances to be identified over a network," said Abdullah Hashim, manager, UAEnic.

Any device on a network, including printers, servers and PCs, has an IP address in order to receive information from other devices. "IPv6 has been developed to facilitate the next step in Internet development," added Hashim.

"It gives us the flexibility to plan for new devices and applications to be plugged into interconnecting networks."