Providing Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) access to websites and other content and applications is important to their original developers, who may not always to able to provide IPv6 access using their own resources.
A relatively simple way to enable IPv6 access for any existing public-facing IPv4-only web server is by using one of the services or products described in the four categories below. In different ways, each can provide dual stack (IPv6 in addition to legacy IPv4) access for websites and applications that are natively IPv4-only. A product or service offered by a particular provider may not always fit neatly into just one category.
Some problems encountered when deploying IPv6 access and solutions to those problems are described in Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comment (RFC) 6589, Considerations for Transitioning Content to IPv6.
The four categories of dual stack services and products are:
1. Cloud Service Providers. Cloud service providers are described in the Cloud Computing using IPv6 article in the Infrastructure section.
2. Content Delivery Network (CDN) Providers. CDN Providers are described in the Available IPv6 Content Delivery Network (CDN) Providers article in the FAQ section.
3. Web Hosting Service Providers. Web Hosting Service Providers are described in this article and many lists of web hosting service providers are available. A Google search for “web hosting services” will find millions of them.
4. Proxy Server Products. Inserting some type of dual stack proxy server product in the network path between your IPv4-only content or application of interest and the public Internet is another way to provide dual stack access. Proxy server products are similar in function to other products called by different names by different providers, such as:
Reverse Proxy Server,
Application Delivery Controller,
Web Server Accelerator,
Application Level/Layer Gateway,
Load Balancer, or
Application Delivery Controller (ADC).
ADCs are discussed in this article and accompanying presentation. Also, the Internet Society (ISOC) describes additional dual stack services and products on their Making Content Available Over IPv6 web page.
Return to the IPv6 and IoT Frequently Asked Questions page.