CDN Featured Article

When it comes to Internet protocol (IP), the old days of IPv4 are on the decline. IPv6 is rapidly stepping in to augment the overall system and provide more packet headers for us to put to use. BelugaCDN is taking this development to heart, becoming the first content delivery network (CDN) to become a wholly IPv6 operation and improving the speed and range of its content delivery operations.

Thanks to the new measures, BelugaCDN now features a dual-stack IPv4 and IPv6 network, allowing objects of all sizes to be moved readily through the network. This makes a particularly worthwhile proposition for users on mobile devices, as those networks are often somewhat less capable than land-based networks. Since most developed countries have exhausted current rosters of IPv4 addresses, the move to IPv6 is nothing less than a survival measure for large portions of the Internet. Even Africa is poised to run out of IPv4 by 2018, or just under a year and a half out.

The good news is that IPv6 is moving along nicely. It currently represents about 14 percent of all Internet traffic and will clear a third—over 34 percent—by 2020. While many smartphones and tablets can't handle IPv6 just yet—only about 60 percent could in 2015—that number will only improve, projected to hit 90 percent in 2020. That's actually quite a lag; only a little over half of smartphones can handle the system running about 14 percent of all traffic. Improvements are likely in short order, though, so any problems here should be minimal and of limited duration.

Meanwhile, BelugaCDN's move gives Beluga a critical advantage in the field, as it allows users to future-proof their offerings; IPv6 is going to be a very big part of the Internet in short order, and since BelugaCDN is ready for that now, it should put that company ahead of many of its competitors. Naturally, that isn't BelugaCDN's only offering, as the company also boasts secure socket layer (SSL) and transport layer security (TLS) capability, along with dynamic record sizing, perfect forward secrecy, and several other such tools that very few CDNs are actually offering, reports note.

The improvements offered up by BelugaCDN should make it indeed a desirable target for those planning future expansions. Not only does it already offer a great value for its users, with several features comparatively unique to the market, but it also offers value down the line by preparing for a future in which a particular protocol is prominently used. That means a better chance of continued operation down the line, and in the end, a greater chance of success for itself and its users.

IPv6 is going to change a good chunk of the Internet as we know it, and BelugaCDN is ready for IPv6, a development that should make its users very happy.