I hope to keep this page update with the latest info I have on IPv6. It'd be great to build our key infrastructure around IPv6 to avoid migration issues that may arrise in the future.

IPv6 stands for Internet Protocol version 6 and is the succesor to the currently used IPv4. There are several reason for migrating from an IPv4 infrastructure to one based on IPv6. Many of the things we are used to using and configuring on a daily basis such as NAT or DHCP are simply work arounds to the problem of the inherently small address space of IPv4. IPv6 addresses these problems and others.

One /48 IPv6 prefix allows a site to deploy up to 65,535 subnets (/64 IPv6 prefix). Each subnet could handle 2^64 nodes (18,446,744 073,709,551,616 IPv6 addresses), therefore, the number of unicast IPv6 addresses you could use with only one /48 prefix is incredible : 65,535 subnets * 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 !!! (1,208,907,372,870,555,465,154,560 in case your wondering, and that's just at ONE site)

See the freenet6 link below for more information on how to setup IPv6 over IPv4 using TSP(Tunnel Setup Protocol)

IPv6 Links

Some IPv6 projects:

• [http://www.kame.net/ KAME]

• [http://www.wide.ad.jp/ WIDE]

• [http://www.tahi.org/ TAHI]

• [http://www.linux-ipv6.org/ USAGI]

Other stuff:

• [http://www.freenet6.net freenet6]

• [http://research.microsoft.com/msripv6/docs/config.htm A Microsoft Document on IPv6]

[CategoryGlossary]