Yes, it really is that useful. The ability to directly connect to machines on my home network without mucking with VPNs, port forwarding, etc is fantastic. The key thing it does is reduces friction when creating or using anything that could be accessed from off the local network. The ability to assign static addresses to custom DNS entries makes it even better. The more services that throw up IPv6 support the more useful it gets. If I could pull from Github over IPv6... or run SSL Labs TLS tests against an IPv6 VM...
In particular, it is better than other VPN/port forwarding type solutions because it works transparently and universally. It works on your phone (where VPN can be more tricky). It works in environments where you aren't allowed to install special relay software. It works when you are a guest somewhere else without them having to change their network setup.
As for cloud services... yes and no. In a world with direct addressing you open up many opportunities for innovation in the home cloud appliance market. However, many cloud services are made affordable because they can leverage shared infrastructure, sell usage metadata, or add and remove capacity instantly. Whether home based solutions could be competitive in price and reliability without those abilities. I see some categories of service that it makes sense for, others, less so.
Security is a concern, yes, but one that can and should be addressed by good security tools and practices (firewalls, automatic security updates, good backups, not running services you don't use, etc) not by crippling your network with NAT.
I guess I had become so used to NAT it just seemed the natural order of things. I do think the security is still a major issue but then I like building my servers as if they are alone on the Internet so it makes sense
And yes, a good point about the reliability of cloud services - but still at 50 bucks for 2 TB and iCloud costing me 20 bucks a month I think Shared infrastructure savings have a long way to go !
Large capacity media servers are something I think makes sense as a home appliance. I also think that if people end up willing to put their money where their mouths are that there will be a market for devices that provide cloud like services with the privacy of local hardware.
Re: security. Cloud services aren't doing a lot better. They are repeatedly broken into and have huge password lists stolen, many have governments have direct programs for extracting datas from them, and someone else can call up their customer support reps and practically ask for your password. Many effective security best practices amount to obscurity (change ssh port number). Large central services are very attractive and lucrative to hack.
yes and no. As long as you are able to get a globally routeable ipv4 address for your home at a reasonable price, no. Once you start being subjected to CGN (either or your end or on the remote end) or the price pressure of IPv4 in your region then you will have a reason. Namely cost and performance.
Because of this I would suggest that if you go router shopping that you should choose a model that supports IPv6 rather than not, even if you don't necessary care which you will end up using. Get a model with a good IPv6 firewall that you can tell to block all incoming connections.
Lastly, I think it is dangerous for "casual users" to say things like "I don't care about direct addressing of devices at home". I firmly believe that universal direct addressing will result in new innovation that might change your mind. :)
In particular, it is better than other VPN/port forwarding type solutions because it works transparently and universally. It works on your phone (where VPN can be more tricky). It works in environments where you aren't allowed to install special relay software. It works when you are a guest somewhere else without them having to change their network setup.
As for cloud services... yes and no. In a world with direct addressing you open up many opportunities for innovation in the home cloud appliance market. However, many cloud services are made affordable because they can leverage shared infrastructure, sell usage metadata, or add and remove capacity instantly. Whether home based solutions could be competitive in price and reliability without those abilities. I see some categories of service that it makes sense for, others, less so.
Security is a concern, yes, but one that can and should be addressed by good security tools and practices (firewalls, automatic security updates, good backups, not running services you don't use, etc) not by crippling your network with NAT.