3 biggest internet problems Singaporeans are facing

By Connie Hon

The Internet is changing from the inside out.

The Internet is an electronic communications Network inter-connecting computer networks. Each network is derived from connections between and among dots, dots being personal computers and organizational computers.

Problem: Not enough addresses
Solution: IPv6

The Internet has changed many lives and it is safe to say that no one quits the Internet after getting onto, the Internet.

As more users climb on board the Internet, the latter deepens in depth, increases in density and grows in girth.

Each dot on the Internet is assigned a unique address so that it can be found. StarHub Cable Vision's IP address begins with 59, for example.

Due to the emergence of new "dots" that are directly contributing to the expansion of the Internet, we are fast running out of available IPv4 addresses to assign.

IPv4 is a 32-bit address scheme which is only able to support up to 2^32 addresses (just over 4 billion unique addresses).

This is not nearly enough to cater to the future demand of mobile and fixed Internet access from the World.

The solution is to switch to IPv6 which we are currently in the midst of.

IPv6 is a 128-bit address scheme and can provide theorectically, a limitless number of unique IP addresses.

In 2004, Japan and Korea were acknowledged as having the first public deployments of IPv6, according to a write-up of IPv6 by WhatIsMyIPAddress.com.

Over here in Singapore, The IPv6 Forum Education Logo Programme Committee conducts a course for system administrators as these folks should be first in line to learn about IPv6.

Through this course, system administrators acquire the skills necessary to deploy, run and troubleshoot IPv6 enabled networks.

You may find out more about this and other IPv6 courses from Progreso Training.

Problem: Not enough security
Solution: Solving, with help from DNSSEC

As there are so many IP addresses in the Internet's immense address book, the Domain Name System (DNS) remains the best way to look up an address quickly and accurately.

Whenever the DNS worked, that is.

The recent spate of high profile cyber attacks and domain hijack cases in Singapore shoved onto centerstage, the important yet usually underfunded issue of Internet Security.

Domain hijack cases in particular, divert Internet users to websites that are not where they intended to visit.
The diversions could lead to confusion, misintepretation, loss of trust, goodwill, reputation, confidential data and money.

Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) counter domain hijacks by systematically checking and tallying the return result of an IP address look up with its corresponding look up in the parent zone(s) and in the root zone. It does this by verifying keys and signatures associated with each look up and at each zone.

DNSSEC will in time, be implemented by all parent zones. It has been available in the root zone since 2010.

Problem: Not enough room for names
Solution: New gTLDs

It is no longer a dot com world, although undisputedly, dot com remains a popular extension for existing domain names that are either established or short.

New domain name registrants must look elsewhere of dot com if they wish to have the names that they want. Fortunately they are quite spoilt for choice.

Dot com aside, there are 18 generic top level domains (gTLDs) and 256 country code top level domains (ccTLDs) for registrants to register domain names with.

Some gTLDs cater to industry such as .travel and .aero, while some ccTLDs make domain names interesting such as bit.ly or ti.me.

There are more top level domains joining the .Domains .Family.

Some of them are .Fun and .Love to .Party in .London. If they are .Cool, .You could .Build them .Villas
.WOW!!

Organizations, marketers and Internet users should enjoy stringing up their preferred names with interesting TLDs.

These new TLDs are introduced to the Internet for the purpose of expanding the domain namespace and providing more choice and greater meaning to the average Internet user. Check out the new gTLDs here.

Imagine, that one glance at SGshoe.Shop effortlessly tells an eager shopaholic what the shop sells and it is right here in Singapore.

A first-time buyer of the Macbook tends to trust information on operating system and prices on Apple.Computer.

On a business trip in Japan, an executive's rented car breaks down but he easily searches for CarRepair.Tokyo.

The Internet is getting interesting! Yet we have only just begun.

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