A scenario-based review of IPv6 transition tools

Abstract

Momentum for IPv6 transition is on the rise, and many transition tools and techniques are available to ISPs, enterprise networks, and unmanaged networks. The rationale for introducing IPv6 is beginning to sway many network providers in commercial and research environments.1 Among IPv6's unique benefits over IPv4 are increased address space, simpler "plug and play," network security, and improved mobility support.2 These benefits are interrelated. Increased address space lets networks globally address more and new types of devices, which removes the need for network address translation (NAT). In turn, this restores the Internet's original endto-end principle, allowing host-to-host IPsec and novel services to run into networks previously "hidden" behind NAT boxes. Peer-to-peer applications and ad hoc and mobile networking will all benefit from IPv6 deployment.Commercially supported IPv6 software, including operating systems and popular applications, is now available from vendors such as Cisco, Juniper, Microsoft, Apple, IBM, and Sun. In Europe, the European Commission sees IPv6 introduction as key to its 2005 e-Europe Action Plan. Several EU Information Society Technologies' (IST) IPv6 projects, including 6NET (www.6net.org) and Euro6IX (www.euro6ix.org), are examining how to deploy and support IPv6 in academic and commercial settings. There is also significant IPv6 work going on in the US and Asia. 3 We can consider the challenge of introducing IPv6 from two angles. First, when introducing a new "native" IPv6 network, we clearly must ensure that all components (network devices, host operating systems, applications, and so on) support the new protocol. Second, when introducing IPv6 to an existing IPv4 infrastructure, we must have transitioning mechanisms that enable the protocol's seamless introduction, minimizing any impact on existing network users.The Internet Engineering Task Force recently established the IPv6 Operations (v6ops) working group (www.ietf.org/html.charters/v6ops-charter. html) to supersede the next-generation transition (ngtrans) working group. The v6ops group will be looking at four major IPv6 deployment scenarios: ISPs, cellular networks, enterprise networks (including universities), and unmanaged networks (such as those found in homes or small offices). Here, we offer an overview of the potential migration scenarios facing three of these groups (excluding cellular networks), and the transitioning mechanisms available to them. IPv6 Research and 6NETThe IETF has been developing IPv6 protocols for more than six years. The ngtrans working group developed many tools aimed at assisting IPv6's introduction, offering a "transitioning toolbox" for operators migrating to IPv6. More recently, v6ops' work is focusing on the operational aspects of introducing IPv6 services into IPv4 environments, and on deploying green field IPv6 networks (new networks that primarily use IPv6).In the EU's IST Fifth Framework Programme, two major projects are running trials of various IETF-proposed IPv6 protocols and mecha...

Internet Address Space

“…96 Organisations with a large number of public IPv4 addresses will be able to use a dual-stack approach, while those with fewer addresses will need to use mechanisms for an IPv6-only internal infrastructure. 97 For organisations looking to perform testing and migrate to IPv6 only gradually, tunnelling systems may be the most appropriate mechanism.…”

Fusion of digital television, broadband Internet and mobile communications—Part I: Enabling technologies

“…inclusive of DVB satellite systems, and to enable seamless introduction, migration strategies will be adopted. In this way, it will minimize any impact on existing network users [34]. The MPE protocol, which is currently widely used for DVB satellite systems, can be used for both IPv4 and IPv6.…”

“…The advantage of dual stack mechanisms is that the IPv4 and IPv6 share the same network}this implies that there is no need to design new routers specifically for IPv6. For further information regarding dual stack, refer to [34][35][36].…”

“…* 6to4: This method is suitable for isolated IPv6 islands to communicate via the IPv4 network without using explicit tunnels. It treats the IPv4 network as a unicast pointto-point link layer, specifying an encapsulation mechanism for transmitting IPv6 packets over the Internet by assigning a unique IPv6 address prefix to any site with at least one globally unique IPv4 address [34]. This method is not intended as a permanent solution, but as a start-up transition tool during the co-existence of IPv4 and IPv6 [38].…”

“…However, it does not translate the IP headers, on the contrary, BIA inserts an API translator between the host's stack TCP/IP modules [46]. This allows the translation to be performed without the overhead of translating every packet's header [34].…”