SoftLayer Provides IPv6 Support
Implements Latest Protocol, Improving Routing and Network Configurations
January 21, 2009, Dallas, TX – Internet protocol that provides substantially more addresses than the current IPv4 implementation. IPv6 will eventually replace the currently used IPv4 standard, with both coexisting over a multi-year transition period. SoftLayer has completely integrated IPv6 address ordering and management into the Customer Portal and API.
"SoftLayer is proud to bring this additional functionality to its customers, ahead of the adoption curve," said Ric Moseley, SoftLayer Vice President of Engineering. "While the rollout and implementation of IPv6 throughout the industry is still in its early stages, it will be a requisite for our customers, and we want them to be able to begin benefitting from it now."
Addressing and management of addresses is essential to the core functionality of any network, including the Internet. Systems must have a unique address for traffic to be properly directed. There are a finite number of addresses that any addressing system can support, and nearly every possible IPv4 address has been assigned. IPv6 allows for an exponentially larger number of addresses than IPv4, using 128-bit rather than 32-bit addresses. This allows greater flexibility in allocating addresses and routing traffic, and eliminates the need for network address translation, allowing for improved routing and network configurations.
In addition to the IPv6 rollout, SoftLayer has increased connectivity to its Washington, DC and Seattle data centers bringing the SoftLayer’s total backbone network capacity to 200Gbps. SoftLayer has also added 10Gbps links to the Equinix Peering Fabric in Ashburn and Dallas to pick up local peers, and a new Flow Control Platform for optimizing Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) tables. | 
