IPv6 Book: The Second Internet

The founder and Chief Technology Officer of Cebu-based InfoWeapons Corporation, Lawrence Hughes, has written a new book on IPv6 entitled The Second Internet: Reinventing Computer Networking with IPv6. Published in digital format by InfoWeapons, the book has gained critical acclaim from IPv6 and networking experts around the world.

Hughes began InfoWeapons in 2004 to develop and market secure, IPv6-capable network appliances. The company’s research and development facility is in Cebu City.

“I felt that the existing books did not go into enough detail,” Hughes said as he explained his reasons for writing his book. “I tried to help engineers build a bridge from what they know (IPv4) to the new concepts (IPv6). The two main chapters (one on IPv4, one on IPv6) use the same subchapter numbering sequences. So an IPv4 concept might be in section 3.1.2, while the corresponding IPv6 concept would be in section 5.1.2. Kind of like ‘how do I say this in IPv6?’”

“I also created a series of very detailed and complete labs that can be done with generic PCs and open source software, to create a full featured IPv6 testbed network,” he continued. “All labs are done first with just IPv4, then migrated to dual stack (IPv4 + IPv6)… Anyone going through the book together with the hands-on labs will have a fairly complete knowledge of IPv6.”

Although it contains a great deal of technical material, Hughes explained that it will still appeal to a wider audience. “Parts of the book would be suitable for management types that don’t need or want the bits and bytes, but may need to understand timing, transition issues, how to identify products certified to be compliant, and the role of various organizations involved in IPv6,” he said.

CentOS 5.5 on Dell Vostro A840

When I purchased my Dell Vostro A840 last February, it came pre-loaded with Ubuntu 8.04. This version of Ubuntu was a Long Term Support (LTS) release, which means that it is still being updated with security patches and (hopefully) new versions of the installed applications. That being said, I found that this situation left much to be desired.

For one, everytime I upgraded the kernel, I found to my dismay that my sound drivers would go on the blink. Not being familiar with Ubuntu, I didn’t want to go around compiling software (even granting that I could find proper drivers for the hardware). I also found that my applications — updated or otherwise — were very, well… dated. They were usable, yes, but way behind the times.

Upgrading to another version of Ubuntu would have been a solution. But the best way to do that would have been to burn a DVD installer and make a clean installation. If I was going to do that, I thought, then why not go the whole hog and switch to a Liunux version with which I was familiar, such as CentOS?

I checked online and saw that thewre was a new version of CentOS: version 5.5. Now that looked attractive.