IPv6 Tutorial

Just what is the IPv6 standard? Learn all about it in this free IPv6 tutorial from PC Network Advisor.

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Many of us have heard of the proposals to convert the Internet Protocol standard from the current version IPv4 to a new standard IPv6. Few of us are really aware of all the implications. The driving force of the new standard is the rapid growth of the Internet and IPv6 is being introduced to overcome the address space restrictions of the old one. At first glance the implications for the network administrator seem negligible, because many of us already have our allocated addresses. In some cases we’ve enough to last us for a considerable period of planned growth, so why should we be interested in IPv6?

IPv6 is a lot more than IPv4 with a couple of numbers bolted on the end to make the address space bigger. It’s a ground-up re- think of what will be required from IP as a protocol in the future. IPv6 starts to take on board the modifications that will be needed to cope with the changing traffic that will start to appear on IP networks globally. It is anticipated that there will be much more emphasis on real- time transactions as the Internet and intranets metamorphose from old style data networks, into complex transmission systems carrying a vast wealth of data, entertainment and other services, some not yet even a twinkle in their innovator’s eye.

At the same time IPv6 attempts to address one of the largest headaches of an IP network from the administrator’s point of view; configuring the network in the first place. Despite time saving systems like BOOTP and DHCP, a huge number of networks are hand crafted, with IP numbers typed in at individual workstations by unfortunate support staff whose job is to do little else. Anything that automates this process will help, and IPv6 goes a long way in this respect.

Many network administrators dislike changes like IPv6 because they fear some hideous one- day change over that leaves life chaotic for days or even weeks afterwards. Thankfully this shouldn’t be the case, since an IPv6 network can talk to an IPv4 network and vice- versa. If you have two sites with an IPv6 system, and your Internet connection between the two is only IPv4, then the two networks will still be able to talk – the IPv6 packets tunnelling through the IPv4 connection. So there are few reasons to fear IPv6, and every reason to start planning the changes now.

History

The Internet Architecture Board started studying the problem of the growth of the Internet, and the number of addresses that would be required, back in 1991, when it was still known as the Internet Activities Board. To some extent the growth had been anticipated– everyone knew there would be ever more computers connected to the Net. What was less obvious then was that the Net would extend beyond computers in the conventional sense, and that there would soon be a requirement to assign IP addresses to devices as diverse as mobile telephones, other communication devices and even motor cars. There is already a car on the market with a built- in modem for diagnostics, and no doubt more will follow.

IPv6 Tutorial Page 2

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