IPv6 Transition Support

11/21/2016

This post details the significant milestone of 98.01% of sites on Cloudflare using IPv6. It provides data on IPv6 adoption rates by country, network, device (mobile vs. desktop), operating system, and browser. It also discusses the performance benefits of IPv6, citing a 27% faster connection and page load time compared to IPv4. The post highlights Cloudflare's proactive efforts in enabling IPv6 for its customers and the positive impact observed on global IPv6 measurements.

6/7/2016

This post details Cloudflare's support for the transition to IPv6-only networking services, particularly in response to Apple's mandate for iOS apps. It explains the technical reasons for the IPv4 to IPv6 transition, the challenges involved (e.g., NAT64, DNS64, IP literals in code), and how Cloudflare simplifies this for its customers. Key features highlighted include one-click IPv6 provisioning, an IPv4-to-IPv6 translation gateway, and Pseudo IPv4 for legacy applications. It also provides guidance for iOS developers on best practices for IPv6 compatibility.

6/11/2015

This post highlights Cloudflare's role in helping iOS developers meet the new requirements of iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan, specifically the mandatory use of IPv6 and HTTPS for all app submissions. It emphasizes that Cloudflare provides free and automatic support for both IPv6 (via an Automatic IPv6 Gateway) and HTTPS (via Universal SSL with TLS 1.2 and Forward Secrecy) for all Cloudflare-backed websites and API backends, regardless of the hosting provider's support. This simplifies the migration process for developers by abstracting away the complexities of obtaining and maintaining SSL certificates and ensuring IPv6 availability.

6/5/2015

This post celebrates four years of Cloudflare's automatic IPv6 gateway, highlighting its zero-configuration approach for IPv4-only websites to support IPv6-only clients. It presents data on IPv6 address deployment, end-user access to Cloudflare customers' websites via IPv6 (with a significant portion from mobile devices), and country-specific IPv6 traffic percentages, noting Peru's high adoption rate. The post reiterates the importance of IPv6 due to IPv4 address depletion and encourages adoption.

6/5/2014

Introduced 'Pseudo IPv4' option to provide a stopgap solution for legacy software that assumes an IPv4 world. This option adds a 'Cf-Pseudo-IPv4' HTTP header with a Class E IP address when a connection is established over IPv6, or overwrites existing headers with a Pseudo IPv4 address and adds a 'Cf-Connecting-IPv6' header for debugging. Implemented using MD5 hashing of the top 64 bits of the IPv6 address to map to a Class E IP. The implementation details for the Lua prototype using ngx_openresty are provided.

6/5/2014

Introduced default IPv6 enablement for all new and existing accounts. Developed and deployed a 'pseudo IPv4' address mapping from IPv6 addresses as a temporary workaround for sites with hardcoded IPv4 address handling in their codebase, addressing string length limitations in logging and databases.

3/13/2014

This post announces the author's first day at Cloudflare and highlights the company's commitment to IPv6. It details the decision to make IPv6 the default for new customers and outlines a plan for a staggered rollout to existing customers. The author expresses strong personal belief in IPv6 and its importance for the internet's future, citing the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses and the success of initiatives like World IPv6 Day and Launch. The post also mentions Cloudflare's existing IPv4/IPv6 gateway and the control panel switch for enabling IPv6.

6/6/2013

This post details the growth of IPv6 usage on Cloudflare's network, noting that it has become available for over 1 million customer websites. It highlights that IPv6 connections as a percentage of total traffic have grown 26.5% since the start of 2013, with mobile networks being the primary driver of this growth. The post also identifies a marked increase in IPv6-based web attacks, primarily DDoS, over the preceding two months, while asserting that Cloudflare's existing defenses are equipped to handle these attacks.

10/16/2012

Introduced the Automatic IPv6 Gateway, which allows customers to maintain existing IPv4 infrastructure while being available on the IPv6 web. This service helps new internet publishers put content on IPv6 and reach legacy IPv4 surfers. The launch doubled the number of IPv6 websites available on the day of release, making Cloudflare the largest provider of IPv6 connectivity for websites.

6/28/2012

This post details the challenges of mobile network performance due to TCP's limitations with high latency and packet loss, and how Cloudflare customizes TCP stack parameters and classifies connections to optimize performance for mobile users.

5/25/2012

Introduced the Global IPv6 Challenge to encourage widespread IPv6 adoption by World IPv6 Day. Launched the IPv6 Network Testing app to gather data on ISP IPv6 support and identify network issues. Cloudflare's IPv6 Gateway, launched 9 months prior, is now the default option for all users, with SAFE mode mimicking strategies of large sites like Google and Facebook, and FULL IPv6 mode enabling dual-stack support.

2/2/2012

This post announces Cloudflare's participation in the World IPv6 Launch initiative, committing to permanently enable IPv6 for its products and services by June 2012. It highlights Cloudflare's existing IPv6 support, noting that 10% of IPv6-supporting Alexa top 1 million websites use Cloudflare. The post seeks suggestions on how to accelerate IPv6 adoption by addressing the chicken-or-egg problem between ISPs and content providers, and emphasizes the importance of IPv6 for internet growth and innovation, mitigating the costs and fragility associated with IPv4 address scarcity and NAT.

1/12/2012

This post marks the initial offering of Cloudflare's free Automatic IPv6 Gateway, enabling 10% of websites supporting IPv6 to do so via Cloudflare. It highlights the early stages of IPv6 adoption and Cloudflare's role in expanding the IPv6 web.

9/27/2011

Introduced the Automatic IPv6 Gateway, a free feature for all Cloudflare users, to address the incompatibility between IPv4 and IPv6 networks. This gateway allows users on one protocol to access websites on the other without requiring expensive hardware deployments. Users can enable this feature via their Cloudflare Settings page, choosing between a 'FULL' option for all subdomains or a 'SAFE' option that creates specific IPv6-only subdomains. No DNS changes are required from the user.