IPv6 - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

IPv6 ( Internet Protocol version 6 ) is the successor of the protocol IPv4, which still forms (in 2007) the base of Internet.

Why a new protocol IP?

The IPv4 protocol makes it possible to use a little more than four billion different addresses to connect the computers and the other apparatuses connected to the network. Time of the beginnings of Internet, when the computers were rare, that appeared more than sufficient. It was practically unimaginable that there would be one day sufficient machines on a single network so that one starts to miss addresses available.

Most of the four billion IP addresses theoretically available are not usable, either because they are intended for particular uses (for example, the multicast ), or because they belong already to important sub-networks. Indeed, of immense beaches of 16,8 million addresses, the networks known as of class has, were allotted to the first large organizations connected to Internet, which preserved them until today without managing to exhaust them. The North-Americans, and to a lesser extent Europeans, shared the greatest beaches of addresses, relatively very few, while the areas connected more tardily, like Asia and South America especially, remained on the key.

Consequently, there is today, mainly in Asia, a shortage of addresses which one must compensate for by mechanisms as the Traduction of address and port network (NAPT) and the dynamic attribution of addresses, and in softener cutting in classes of the addresses (CIDR).

Within sight of the importance and growth of Internet, this situation pose problems more and more. It is of more foreseeable than the request for Internet addresses will increase in the years to come, even in the areas of the world saved up to now, following innovations like the mobile phones (and soon, undoubtedly, the cars and various apparatuses) connected to Internet.

It is mainly because of this shortage, but also to solve some of the problems revealed by the use on vast scale of IPv 4, qu ' in 1995 the transition started towards IPv6. Among the essential innovations, one can quote:

increase in $2^ {32}$ (either approximately $10^ {10}$ ) with $2^ {128}$ (or approximately $10^ {38}$ ) of the number of addresses available;
of the mechanisms of configuration and automatic renumerotation;
IPsec, QoS and multicast implemented nativement;
the simplification of the headings of packages, which facilitates in particular the routing.

IPv6 addresses

History

Use of IPv6

ICANN announced the July 20th 2004 that recordings of the type AAAA referring the IPv6 addresses of the waiters of name of the country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD, or national fields of first level) .jp (Japan), .kr (South Korea) and .fr (France) becomes visible in the file of zone of the waiters DNS roots).

One of the first French networks to use IPv6 is Renater, since 1996.

The first Fournisseur of access to Internet (FAI) French to have placed at the disposal of its customers native a IPv6 access is Nerim.

The near total of the French FAI have IPv6 resources for the internal management of their network, they are connected to the backbone IPv6, and propose even to the professional customers offers of IPv6 connection.

Many material routers are already compatible IPv6, or can easily be updated by loading of a Operating system or Firmware to deal with the protocol.

Orange (previously known under the name of Wanadoo) proposed a IPv6 experimentation for the private individuals, but it is suspended for one unlimited duration.

However the same FAI still hesitate to propose IPv6 connectivity over the accesses of the particular final customers, fearing compatibility issues with the Modem S and deployed Routeur S. However, a simple configuration of the router of the FAI would be enough to authorize or filter the screens IPv6 towards the customer according to his profile of connection.

However, there does not exist normally any collision risk between IPv6 and IPv4 since those are encapsulated in the same screens of connection but with numbers of distinct protocol network; it should be noted that:

IPv4 requires already the use of other specific numbers of protocol network for the configuration of the interface of connection or indication except band in addition,
the lans of the final customers use already the same screens of connection with specific numbers of protocol recognized by the various operating systems (IPv4, IPv6, IPX, EtherTalk, NetBEUI…) and can thus already silently filter the screens of protocols of transport not recognized or not locally configured.
It is not necessary systematically to propose IPv6 with all the customers but initially with those which make the request of it. These must have materials adapted to this protocol or being able to be updated to deal with it.
the FAI regularly change the materials proposed with their customers, in order to adapt them to new offers of flow or service (local router, Pare-feu, adapters without wire WiFi or Bluetooth, Digital television, Vidéo with the request, Voix on IP, Visiophonie…) ; the integration of IPv6 in these new materials can be done with lower costs without requiring the later replacement of the incompatible besides materials (the majority of these new materials have sufficient internal resources storage and the function of update remotely which will not require the replacement of the material).

Finally IPv6 is essential sometimes like single means of interconnection with the mobile terminals itinerant in Asia; it will be it also quickly in Europe when the old solutions of interconnection based on the old standards WAP and addressing GSM must be replaced by solutions IP where it will become impossible to satisfy a big number of mobile terminals with a IPv4 addressing (even with NAPT).
Les addresses IPv6 (and IPv4) is mainly distributed on three continents : America (the United States, and to a lesser extent Canada, Brazil and Argentina); Europe (in particular Germany and Netherlands); Asia (In particular, Japan and Taiwan).

IPv6 quickly proves impossible to circumvent simply for reasons of Interopérabilité, and there is no reason to slow down its development, the more so as:

that would cause a drop in the pressure on IPv4,
that would relieve the users of the too complex management of the rules of translation of address (NAPT),
and would make it possible the FAI to propose new services adapted to the Domotique using the possibilities of autoconfiguration of IPv6.

IPv6 in practice

In practice, of the Web servers exist in IPv6 in 26 countries. Exist also waiters in IPv6 proposing of the servicings, such as ftp or IRC. The IPv4 services can be reached since IPv6 machines; the opposite is not true. All the principal operating systems (Linux, Mac OS X, Windows XP, Windows Vista, * BSD, Solaris, HP/UX, etc) can use IPv6, but also other embarked systems, such as Symbian, QNX, Wind River, or Elmic Systems.

In Europe, the GIANT network of university research Pan-European inter-connecting the NREN uses a double pile (IPv4 + IPv6). 18 of NRENs are connected nativement in IPv6. IPv6 is also used by the Department of Defense of the United States of America, Member State of NATO. The company Microsoft launched 3 dismantle , a new type of application posts at station, which uses in-house IPv6, without the user not knowing it.

The commercial takeoff of IPv6 currently delays, because the FAI are not ready to pay a overcost of transition, if there does not exist a market with short-term. The FAI were already equipped with IPv6 material, but of the costs are related to the staff training. After the transition, IPv6 should involve falls of cost, for the FAI, IPv6 costing less from 30 to 35% compared to IPv4 .

The end users do not ask their FAI IPv6, because there does not exist more immediate, but one of the headlight applications had a presentiment of to turn on IPv6 is the voice on IP, in a context where the Mobile telephony and the total Dégroupage develop, the requirement in addresses increases.

Cameras/IPv6 cameras are also available bound for the market Eastern. Routers and routers ADSL IPv6 arrive now on the market, at affordable prices, in particular thanks to the salesmen 6WIND, Alcatel, Cisco, Juniper, Hitachi.

Access to IPv6

The manner simplest to reach IPv6 is at the time of the subscription to choose a FAI which offers of IPv6.

In France, it is only the case of Nerim, but in Switzerland, 9 FAI provide of IPv6.

In Japan, NTT markets various IPv6 offers of service:

IPv6 Native Service (since April 27th, 2001) provides a direct native connection to a backbone IPv6
IPv6/IPv4 Dual Service (since April 11th, 2004) provides a connection to a backbone to double IPv6/IPv4 pile on only one line
OCN IPv6 Tunnel Connection Service (since June 11th, 2001) which connects a backbone through OCN IPv4 by using the technology IPv6-over-IPv4
IPv6 Dual (A) OCN ADSL Service (since August 1st, 2002) which uses a double mode crushes to allow the simultaneous use of IPv6 and IPv4 on ASDL
Super OCN IPv6 Dual Ethernet Access (since February 23rd, 2005) which uses a mode double pile to provide an direct access and of high-quality to a connection to a backbone corresponding to the largest standards of industry
Dual IPv6 Connection Service for OCN Housing (since February 10th, 2002)
" OCN IPv6" (since December 5th, 2005) which provides to the end users easy to use IPv6 and good market.

NTT also markets the Flet' S phon.

If your supplier does not propose yet connectivity IPv6 to you, it is possible to set up a footbridge of transition known as " 6to4 anycast". Such a footbridge makes it possible your lan (LAN) to have the benefits of IPv6 while cohabiting with the network of your supplier. For that, you must have of a IPv4 address fixes (addresses not changing with the wire of time) and a compatible material. If you are in this case, you can for example use the system DD-WRT which automatically makes it possible to lay out of a compatible lan ipv6.

IPv6 material

To make it possible to the consumers easily to identify the compatible materials IPv6, a logo is in the course of creation, and a list of the machines candidates to carry this logo is available.

The majority of the candidates are Japanese products, although the list contains some Taiwanese products, states-uniens, Korean or Chinese, Indians, Danish and French.

The equipment present in the list is of type “Ethernet Routing Switch”; “Jetdirect Print Server”; “Mobile IPv6 Home Agent equipment”; “WiFi Dual Interfaces Mobile Phon”; “Time Server”; “802.11 b/g wireless router”; “Linux 2.6.15/2.6.20”; “IPv6 VoIP Server Cal”.

IPv6 applications

The applications connected to the network must be modified to be compatible with IPv6. Many applications were already carried.

It is in particular the case of Apache, Web server, of the core Linux, and Wireshark, sniffor of packages.

See too

IP address - format of the addresses, masks networks, CIDR.
6to4, a system allowing IPv6 packages to be transmitted on a network IPv4
NEMO, the management of the mobility of the sub-networks (such those embarked in the vehicles).

References

Random links:

November 19th | Canton of Grenoble-1 | Jean-Gilles of Coëtlosquet | Bring the Servant boys Back Home | Classification of French-speaking Scrabble duplicate