Posted to Reddit’s section devoted to networking by user felixdgniezno, this IPv6-enabled Christmas tree is garnering rave reviews from the kinds of people who read Reddit’s section devoted to networking and are amused by the notion of an IPv6-enabled Christmas tree.
From the instructions found on the hosting site, which is located in Belgium, not surprisingly (I’ll explain why below):
Ping it to light it up!
- 2001:6a8:28c0:2017::AA:BB:CC for HTML Color #AABBCC
- 2001:6a8:28c0:2017::FF:00:00 for color RED
- 2001:6a8:28c0:2017::00:FF:00 for color GREEN
- 2001:6a8:28c0:2017::00:00:FF for color BLUE
- 2001:6a8:28c0:2017::FF:FF:FF for color WHITE
… and so on…
Every ping packet flashes a random LED in the requested color.
Here’s the tree in action:
And its creator cautions:
Keep in mind there is about 10 to 15 seconds streaming delay on YouTube.
You won’t get a ping reply (saves me bandwidth) but in the livestream you should see LEDs flashing for every packet received.
The wags on Reddit are most appreciative:
“This is the most amusing use of IPv6 I have seen to date,” writes one. “Maybe these gimmicks will drive adoption.”
Back to Belgium, where such gimmicks are not necessary. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if many a Christmas tree in Belgium is IPv6-enabled, as that country enjoys the highest rate of IPv6 adoption in the world.
And, finally, there’s a lesson to be learned from all of this:
As it turns out inviting the entire internet to ping my IP address might not be the best idea I ever had…
Bandwidth is regularly maxing out at 300Mbit/s of incoming ICMPv6 traffic, so bear with me if the livestream occasionally drops out for a moment.
Please avoid pingfloods for prolonged periods and give everyone a chance to try it out.
If we all play nice I will try to keep the tree online until New Year’s Eve.
Play nice or it’ll be lumps of coal all around.