by AKANI CHAUKE
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – A PARTNERSHIP has been sealed to address the worldwide shortage of the fourth version of the Internet Protocol (IPv4).
Vox has entered a partnership with NEC XON and A10 to solve the challenge.
Christopher Burrell, Vox Head of Network, said the company needed a long-term solution that would support extended IPv4 address allocations and future IPv6 allocations for its customer base.
“Some internet service providers (ISPs) and network service providers face new customer onboarding challenges due to the depletion of IP version 4 (IPv4) addresses worldwide,” he said.
In that context, Paul Willemse, Technical Sales Consultant at NEC XON, explained that with all the roughly 4,2 billion IPv4 addresses already assigned, service providers must assign one IP address to multiple users and use IPv6 addresses for new customers.
They must also translate IPv6 addresses into a format that older IPv4 servers can understand to maintain compatibility.
Carrier-grade network (CGN) address translation is the solution to this problem, which translates IPv6 addresses for IPv4 servers and allows ISPs to share one IP address among several subscribers.
Vox ultimately chose A10.
The partners said this was due to its comprehensive features and cost-effectiveness – including local support through NEC XON.
Willemse highlighted that security and robustness are crucial attributes for a carrier-grade service provider to offer.
On Gartner’s website, the A10 CGN solution has received rave reviews, with 75 percent of people giving it the maximum 5 stars, and 63 percent of them are from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Alex Enache, the Regional Sales Manager Central East Europe and Africa at A10 Networks, confirmed that their IPv4 preservation with CGN and IPv6 migration technologies are reliable solutions that help organisations and service providers increase subscribers, expand their IoT networks, and ensure connectivity.
A10 Networks’ Thunder CGN solution is hailed as a high-performance and highly transparent address and protocol translation product.
NEC XON is a leading African integrator of ICT solutions and part of NEC, a Japanese global company.
The organisation operates in 54 African countries and has a footprint in 16 of them.
– CAJ News