1.

Introduction

The key to a successful IPv6 transition is compatibility with the large installed base of IPv4 hosts and routers. Maintaining compatibility with IPv4 while deploying IPv6 will streamline the task of transitioning the Internet to IPv6. This specification defines two mechanisms that IPv6 hosts and routers may implement in order to be compatible with IPv4 hosts and routers. The mechanisms in this document are designed to be employed by IPv6 hosts and routers that need to interoperate with IPv4 hosts and utilize IPv4 routing infrastructures. We expect that most nodes in the Internet will need such compatibility for a long time to come, and perhaps even indefinitely. The mechanisms specified here are: Dual IP layer (also known as dual stack): A technique for providing complete support for both Internet protocols -- IPv4 and IPv6 -- in hosts and routers.

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Standards Track Basic IPv6 Transition Mechanisms

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Configured tunneling of IPv6 over IPv4: A technique for establishing point-to-point tunnels by encapsulating IPv6 packets within IPv4 headers to carry them over IPv4 routing infrastructures.

The mechanisms defined here are intended to be the core of a "transition toolbox" -- a growing collection of techniques that implementations and users may employ to ease the transition. The tools may be used as needed. Implementations and sites decide which techniques are appropriate to their specific needs. This document defines the basic set of transition mechanisms, but these are not the only tools available. Additional transition and compatibility mechanisms are specified in other documents.

1.1.

Terminology

The following terms are used in this document: Types of Nodes

IPv4-only node: A host or router that implements only IPv4. An IPv4-only node does not understand IPv6. The installed base of IPv4 hosts and routers existing before the transition begins are IPv4-only nodes. IPv6/IPv4 node: A host or router that implements both IPv4 and IPv6. IPv6-only node: A host or router that implements IPv6 and does not implement IPv4. The operation of IPv6-only nodes is not addressed in this memo. IPv6 node: Any host or router that implements IPv6. only nodes are both IPv6 nodes. IPv4 node: Any host or router that implements IPv4. only nodes are both IPv4 nodes. IPv6/IPv4 and IPv4IPv6/IPv4 and IPv6-

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Techniques Used in the Transition IPv6-over-IPv4 tunneling: The technique of encapsulating IPv6 packets within IPv4 so that they can be carried across IPv4 routing infrastructures. Configured tunneling: IPv6-over-IPv4 tunneling where the IPv4 tunnel endpoint address(es) are determined by configuration information on tunnel endpoints. All tunnels are assumed to be bidirectional. The tunnel provides a (virtual) point-to-point link to the IPv6 layer, using the configured IPv4 addresses as the lower-layer endpoint addresses. Other transition mechanisms, including other tunneling mechanisms, are outside the scope of this document. The key words MUST, MUST NOT, REQUIRED, SHALL, SHALL NOT, SHOULD, SHOULD NOT, RECOMMENDED, MAY, and OPTIONAL, when they appear in this

document, are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

2.

Dual IP Layer Operation

The most straightforward way for IPv6 nodes to remain compatible with IPv4-only nodes is by providing a complete IPv4 implementation. IPv6 nodes that provide complete IPv4 and IPv6 implementations are called "IPv6/IPv4 nodes". IPv6/IPv4 nodes have the ability to send and receive both IPv4 and IPv6 packets. They can directly interoperate with IPv4 nodes using IPv4 packets, and also directly interoperate with IPv6 nodes using IPv6 packets. Even though a node may be equipped to support both protocols, one or the other stack may be disabled for operational reasons. Here we use a rather loose notion of "stack". A stack being enabled has IP addresses assigned, but whether or not any particular application is available on the stacks is explicitly not defined. Thus, IPv6/IPv4 nodes may be operated in one of three modes: With their IPv4 stack enabled and their IPv6 stack disabled. With their IPv6 stack enabled and their IPv4 stack disabled. With both stacks enabled.

IPv6/IPv4 nodes with their IPv6 stack disabled will operate like IPv4-only nodes. Similarly, IPv6/IPv4 nodes with their IPv4 stacks

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disabled will operate like IPv6-only nodes. IPv6/IPv4 nodes MAY provide a configuration switch to disable either their IPv4 or IPv6 stack. The configured tunneling technique, which is described in Section 3, may or may not be used in addition to the dual IP layer operation.

2.1.

Address Configuration

Because the nodes support both protocols, IPv6/IPv4 nodes may be configured with both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. IPv6/IPv4 nodes use IPv4 mechanisms (e.g., DHCP) to acquire their IPv4 addresses, and IPv6 protocol mechanisms (e.g., stateless address autoconfiguration [RFC2462] and/or DHCPv6) to acquire their IPv6 addresses.

Because the entire world is currently running IPv4, one of the big questions is how to move people over to IPv6. It is not like they can just announce that on January 1 the Internet will use only IPv6. That just would not work. So instead, a way to slowly migrate people to the new addressing scheme while allowing them to keep everything that they currently have in place has been developed. To that goal, there are three basic methods of compatibility:

Dual-stack: In dual-stack configuration, the device is configured for both IPv4 and IPv6 network stacks. The dual-stack configuration can be implemented on a single interface or with multiple interfaces. In this configuration, the device decides how to send the traffic based on the destination address of the other device. As of IOS 12.2(2), Cisco is IPv6-ready. To support dual-stack routing on a single interface, you need to configure IPv6 on your routing device. The following commands allow for forwarding of IPv6 data packets:

Router1> enable Router1# configure terminal Router1(config)# ipv6 unicast-routing Router1(config)# interface ethernet0 Router1(config-if)# ip address 192.168.75.1 255.255.255.0 Router1(config-if)# ipv6 address 2123:AFFF::192:168:75:1/120 Router1(config-if)# exit Router1(config)# exit Router1# copy running-config startup-config

Tunneling: Tunneling refers to passing IPv6 data over an IPv4 network by placing the IPv6 packet into the data section of an IPv4 packet, as shown in Figure 4-2. The four main types of tunneling are o Manual IPv6-to-IPv4 tunneling encapsulates an IPv6 packet in an IPv4 packet. So as to not fragment the packet from adding the IPv4 header to it, the data packet

o o

needs to be reduced by 20 bytes if the IPv4 has an optional protocol field, or 20 octets if it does not, as well as require routers support both IP stacks. Dynamic 6-to-4 tunneling routes data between islands of IPv6 routers across your network. Intra-Site Automatic Tunnel Addressing Protocol (ISATAP) tunneling uses the existing IPv4 network as the link layer of the IPv6 network and routes the data between the IP networks via routers supporting both IP stacks. Teredo tunneling performs the tunneling work at the dual-stacked host on either end of the connection rather than at a gateway router.

Proxying and translation (NAT-PT): Network Address Translation-Protocol Translation (NAT-PT) places a translation mechanism on the network, which translates traffic going back and forth between IPv4 and IPv6.

With these methods available to companies, ISPs, and users, the path to migrate your network to IPv6 does not need to be long or difficult.

Deploying Dual-Stack IPv4 and IPv6 Networks

Posted by Robert Mullins February 10, 2012

Doing an IPv6 implementation project does not involve tearing down an aging IPv4 network and replacing it with a new IPv6-enabled network. Instead, the IPv4 and IPv6 networks will run in parallel in what the industry calls a "dual-stack" network. But IPv4 and IPv6 are so significantly different in design that network management tools designed for an IPv4 network may not work the same in an IPv6 environment. In this second installment of a three-part series on IPv6 implementation, Network Computing looks at the issues involved in deploying an IPv6 network alongside an IPv4 network. The IPv6 protocol was established because the number of IPv4 addresses is quickly running out. The IPv6 protocol creates a 128-bit address, four times the size of the 32-bit IPv4 standard, so there will be infinitely more available IP addresses. This will accommodate all the smartphones, tablets and other computers on the network, but also the coming proliferation of Internet-

connected devices including refrigerators, cars, and myriad sensors in homes, buildings and on IP networks. With IPv6, a company may have exponentially more Internet addresses to use, but also more to manage, says Leslie Daigle, chief Internet technology officer for the Internet Society (ISOC), a global nonprofit organization that certifies technical standards for the Internet. "The IPv6 address space is so large and your allocation is likely to be larger than you need it to be," she says. "On the flip side, that makes it a lot harder to probe your entire network because it is a much larger space." The volume of available IP addresses adds to the network operator's workload because they have to probe the "dark spaces" within the network where there are no assigned IP addresses. "The managing and making sure that no one is squatting in your address space is considered to be a possible additional challenge," says Daigle. The ISOC has created a Web portal, Deploy 360, to share information about how to deploy an IPv6-compliant network. On the site are a number of case studies on how IPv6 rollouts went, including one about the project at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. In an online report, Oxford's Guy Edwards detailed a five-step plan for deploying IPv6 alongside the existing IPv4 network. First, Edwards advises, the organization should perform a network device audit, identifying all the routers, switches and firewalls on the network, as well as what specific versions of hardware and software are running. With the help of networking vendors, the next step is to determine which of the devices are already IPv6-compliant. He also advises that network administrators run a test on a particular IPv6 device to make sure that the software application to run on the network works.

Deploying Dual-Stack IPv4 and IPv6 Networks

Posted by Robert Mullins February 10, 2012

Second, Edwards says, perform an audit of services to run on the network, such as SMTP for email and DNS for associating Internet domains and unique IP addresses. The audit should identify which of the network services may be IPv6-supported. The next step is to build an IPv6-only test network and run the same services and applications that already run on the IPv4 network. In the test environment, document any differences in configuration syntax and behavior for setting up the service under IPv6. The fourth step is to write a detailed IPv6 deployment plan that lays out in as much detail as possible how the rollout will occur. The plan should be shown to management for approval; it can also be peer-reviewed to make sure that nothing is overlooked.

Last, write a formal IP-addressing policy for going forward. This policy could also be peerreviewed. Some companies are going to discover that the network management tools designed to operate on an IPv4 network may not work the same way on an IPv6 network, says Jim Frey, managing research director at Enterprise Management Associates. "There are still some challenges with how to manage these mixed environments. Underneath the covers there is actually, in many cases, a different set of data being drawn about the IPv6 traffic versus the IPv4 traffic."

Deploying Dual-Stack IPv4 and IPv6 Networks

Posted by Robert Mullins February 10, 2012

A network monitoring tool may reveal that maybe 5% or 10% of network traffic is IPv6 traffic, but it may not be able to identify which specific packets are IPv6, and some tools may not have been upgraded to support IPv6. "It's still a work in progress to gain consistent visibility of mixed environments," says Frey. Variables such as those described by Frey illustrate the need for a well-thought-out and wellexecuted rollout plan, says ISOC's Daigle. "Any enterprise network operator knows that something done quickly is something done expensively," she says. The third segment of this series--which first looked at how different networks have different IPv6 needs--will examine how to manage compliance and security in an IPv6 project. Learn more about Fundamentals: Understanding Private Cloud Stacks by subscribing to Network Computing Pro Reports (free, registration required).