IPv6 : prospects and problems : a technical and management investigation into the deployment of IPv6

Masteroppgave i informasjons- og kommunikasjonsteknologi 2003 - Høgskolen i Agder, GrimstadIPv4 has been used for over twenty years, and will most likely be used in many years ahead. However, we are now experiencing that the IPv4 address space is running out, resulting in restrictions on who will be able to get these types of addresses assigned to them. Methods such as Network Address Translator (NAT) have been developed and implemented in order to save the IPv4 address space. It is said that this is not a good enough solution, as such techniques introduce new problems at the same time solving some. A new version of the Internet Protocol, IPv6, has been developed and is likely to replace IPv4. IPv6 has been developed to solve the address problem, but also new features are designed to supposedly enhance network traffic. In our thesis we give an overview of the problems with IPv4. This includes the limited address space and the limited quality of service. Further we present the features of IPv6 that are meant to solve these problems and add new possibilities. These are: New address format, the IPv6 header and Extension headers to mention some. Further we have investigated and here present how the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 is expected to take place, followed by a thorough description of the transition mechanisms. One of the original intentions on the development of IPv6 was that IPv4 and IPv6 have to be able to coexist for a long period of time. Transition mechanisms have therefore been designed to make this possible. There are three main types of mechanisms: - Tunnelling - Translation - Dual-stack. Each of these mechanisms requires different configuration and implementations in hosts and network. Technical research on transition mechanisms states that these are not good enough for all IPv6/IPv4 scenarios and need improvements in order to make IPv4 and IPv6 coexist smoothly. There are a lot of transition mechanisms that are agreed upon as being good for general use and then there are transition mechanisms that are good for certain scenarios and not for others. Some scenarios still lack a good translation mechanism. As a result of this, IPv6 networks are being built separately from IPv4 networks. In Asia commercial IPv6 networks are offered, while the process is slower in other parts of the world. The reasons for not building IPv6 networks are many, and not agreed upon. Some believe it is because of economical restrictions, while others claim it is technical reasons and that it exists far too few applications supporting IPv6. The number of IPv6 enabled applications is growing. Large companies like; Microsoft Corporation, Cisco Systems Inc, Apple Computers Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc and various versions of Linux include support for IPv6. The deployment of IPv6 is expected to happen at different times in different parts of the world. We have investigated the status of IPv6 globally and in Norway. The main results are that the roll-out has reached the furthest in Asia where commercial IPv6 networks already are offered. The activity in Norway is still small, but growing. It was desired to run an experiment in order to prove or disprove some of the information we gathered on how IPv6 interoperates with IPv4, but because of limitations in the network at Heriot-Watt University we were not able to do this. Instead we have focused on a project by Telenor R&D; “IPv6 migration of unmanaged networks-The Tromsø IPv6 Pilot”. We also gathered some information from people working at Norwegian ISPs in order to address some of the aspects of the upgrading

Scarcity in IP addresses: IPv4 Address Transfer Markets and the Regional Internet Address Registries

We are running out of Internet addresses. This paper evaluates address transfer policies that Internet governance agencies are considering as a response to the depletion of the IPv4 address space. The paper focuses on proposals to allow organizations holding IPv4 addresses to sell address blocks to other organizations willing to buy them. This paper analyzes the economics of the proposed transfer policies, and conducts a systematic comparison of the policies proposed in the three main world Internet regions

Phase Changes in the Evolution of the IPv4 and IPv6 AS-Level Internet Topologies

In this paper we investigate the evolution of the IPv4 and IPv6 Internet topologies at the autonomous system (AS) level over a long period of time.We provide abundant empirical evidence that there is a phase transition in the growth trend of the two networks. For the IPv4 network, the phase change occurred in 2001. Before then the network's size grew exponentially, and thereafter it followed a linear growth. Changes are also observed around the same time for the maximum node degree, the average node degree and the average shortest path length. For the IPv6 network, the phase change occurred in late 2006. It is notable that the observed phase transitions in the two networks are different, for example the size of IPv6 network initially grew linearly and then shifted to an exponential growth. Our results show that following decades of rapid expansion up to the beginning of this century, the IPv4 network has now evolved into a mature, steady stage characterised by a relatively slow growth with a stable network structure; whereas the IPv6 network, after a slow startup process, has just taken off to a full speed growth. We also provide insight into the possible impact of IPv6-over-IPv4 tunneling deployment scheme on the evolution of the IPv6 network. The Internet topology generators so far are based on an inexplicit assumption that the evolution of Internet follows non-changing dynamic mechanisms. This assumption, however, is invalidated by our results.Our work reveals insights into the Internet evolution and provides inputs to future AS-Level Internet models.Comment: 12 pages, 21 figures; G. Zhang et al.,Phase changes in the evolution of the IPv4 and IPv6 AS-Level Internet topologies, Comput. Commun. (2010

Case Study - IPv6 based building automation solution integration into an IPv4 Network Service Provider infrastructure

The case study presents a case study describing an Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 (v6) introduction to an IPv4 Internet Service Provider (ISP) network infrastructure. The case study driver is an ISP willing to introduce a new “killer” service related to Internet of Things (IoT) style building automation. The provider and cooperation of third party companies specialized in building automation will provide the service. The ISP has to deliver the network access layer and to accommodate the building automation solution traffic throughout its network infrastructure. The third party companies are system integrators and building automation solution vendors. IPv6 is suitable for such solutions due to the following reasons. The operator can’t accommodate large number of IPv4 embedded devices in its current network due to the lack of address space and the fact that many of those will need clear 2 way IP communication channel. The Authors propose a strategy for IPv6 introduction into operator infrastructure based on the current network architecture present service portfolio and several transition mechanisms. The strategy has been applied in laboratory with setup close enough to the current operator’s network. The criterion for a successful experiment is full two-way IPv6 application layer connectivity between the IPv6 server and the IPv6 Internet of Things (IoT) cloud

ALEX: Improving SIP Support in Systems with Multiple Network Addresses

The successful and increasingly adopted session initiation protocol (SIP) does not adequately support hosts with multiple network addresses, such as dual-stack (IPv4-IPv6) or IPv6 multi-homed devices. This paper presents the Address List Extension (ALEX) to SIP that adds effective support to systems with multiple addresses, such as dual-stack hosts or multi-homed IPv6 hosts. ALEX enables IPv6 transport to be used for SIP messages, as well as for communication sessions between SIP user agents (UAs), whenever possible and without compromising compatibility with ALEX-unaware UAs and SIP servers

Description and Experience of the Clinical Testbeds

This deliverable describes the up-to-date technical environment at three clinical testbed demonstrator sites of the 6WINIT Project, including the adapted clinical applications, project components and network transition technologies in use at these sites after 18 months of the Project. It also provides an interim description of early experiences with deployment and usage of these applications, components and technologies, and their clinical service impact

Transition of Campus Network to IP Next Generation

This work was conducted to define the necessity and feasibility of transition of the campus network for Oklahoma State University to IP Next Generation. IP Next Generation, or IPng, is a new protocol designed as a successor to the current version of IPv4 used in networking. Due to problems with addressing space and routing tables, IPv4 is in need of replacement. IPng comes as a solution to the problems related to IPv4. Increased addressing space from 32 to 128 bits ensures adequate space for growth of the Internet, improved design provides a potential for better performance of routers working with the Internet Protocol. It was concluded that the tunneling procedure does not impose much overhead in transition from IPv4 to IPv6. A plan of introducing IPv6 on the OSU campus was presented