NAME: Quisora , Christian Lloyd F.

MTh: 9:30-11:00 AM

COURSE & YEAR: BSCS 1st Year

CC10 Lec

Experiential Learning: IPv6

1. Introduction of IPv6

What is IPv6?

IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) is a set of specifications from the Internet

Engineering Task Force (IETF) that is essentially an upgrade of IP version 4 (IPv4), a
category of IP addresses in IPv4-based routing. The basics of IPv6 are similar to those of
IPv4 -- devices can use IPv6 as source and destination addresses to pass packets over a
network, and tools like ping work for network testing as they do in IPv4, with some slight
variations.

History of IPv6

IPv6 was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to deal with the
long-anticipated problem of IPv4 address exhaustion. IPv6 is intended to replace IPv4.
In December 1998, IPv6 became a Draft Standard for the IETF, who subsequently ratified
it as an Internet Standard on 14 July 2017.

Why do we need to migrate to IPv6?

The transition to IPv6 is necessary and inevitable. Without IPv6, user experience
would eventually be impacted. Programs would begin to slow down and devices
would have a hard time communicating with each other, impacting things like internet
speed and services like Voice over IP and web conferencing. Overall, the transition to
IPv6 is good for everyone in the long run; it’s just going to be a slow journey.

Compare IPv4 vs IPv6

The most obvious improvement in IPv6 over IPv4 is that IP addresses are lengthened
from 32 bits to 128 bits. This extension anticipates considerable future growth of the
Internet and provides relief for what was perceived as an impending shortage of
network addresses. IPv6 also supports auto-configuration to help correct most of the
shortcomings in version 4, and it has integrated security and mobility features.

2. Migration from IPv4 to IPv6:

a. Dual Stack
Dual stack means that devices are able to run IPv4 and IPv6 in parallel. It
allows hosts to simultaneously reach IPv4 and IPv6 content, so it offers a
very flexible coexistence strategy. solution across a Layer 2 or Layer 3
connection provided by a service provider.
b. Tunneling
IPv6/IPv4 routers can tunnel IPv6 packets to their final destination IPv6 or
IPv4 host. This tunnel spans only the last segment of the end-to-end path.
Tunneling techniques are usually classified according to the mechanism
by which the encapsulating node determines the address of the node at
the end of the tunnel.

c. Translation
When the IPv4 host sends a request packet to the IPv6 server, the NAT-PT
device/router strips down the IPv4 packet, removes IPv4 header, and
 adds IPv6 header and passes it through the Internet. When a response
from the IPv6 server comes for the IPv4 host, the router does vice versa.

3. Steps to abbreviate and/or expand IPv6?

Most IPv6 addresses do not occupy all of their possible 128 bits. This condition results in
fields that are padded with zeros or contain only zeros.

The IPv6 addressing architecture allows you use the two-colon (::) notation to represent
contiguous 16-bit fields of zeros. For example, you might abbreviate the IPv6 address in
Figure 3–2 by replacing the two contiguous fields of zeros in the interface ID with two
colons. The resulting address is 2001:0db8:3c4d:0015::1a2f:1a2b. Other fields of zeros
can be represented as a single 0. You can also omit any leading zeros in a field, such as
changing 0db8 to db8.

So the address 2001:0db8:3c4d:0015:0000:0000:1a2f:1a2b can be abbreviated as

2001:db8:3c4d:15::1a2f:1a2b.

You can use the two colon notation to replace any contiguous fields of all zeros in the
IPv6 address. For example, the IPv6 address 2001:0db8:3c4d:0015:0000:d234::3eee:0000
can be collapsed into 2001:db8:3c4d:15:0:d234:3eee::.

4. Compare and contrast IPv6 address types:

a. Global unicast
IPv6 global addresses are similar to IPv4 public addresses. As the name
implies, they are routable on the internet. Currently IANA has assigned
only 2000::/3 addresses to the global pool.

A global IPv6 address consists of two parts:

1. subnet ID – 64 bits long. Contains the site prefix (obtained from a

Regional Internet Registry) and the subnet ID (subnets within the site).
2. interface ID – 64 bits long. typically composed of a part of the MAC
address of the interface.
b. Unique local
A unique local address (ULA) is an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)
address in the address range fc00::/7. Its purpose in IPv6 is analogous to
IPv4 private network addressing.
c. Link local – include dynamic & static link-local address
A link-local address is an IPv6 unicast address that can be automatically
configured on any interface using the link-local prefix FE80::/10 (1111 1110
10) and the interface identifier in the modified EUI-64 format. Link-local
addresses are not necessarily bound to the MAC address (configured in a
EUI-64 format).
Dynamic Link Local Address
The link-local address is dynamically created using the FE80::/10 prefix and
the Interface ID.
By default, Cisco IOS routers use EUI-64 to generate the Interface ID for all
link-local address on IPv6 interfaces. For serial interfaces, the router will use
the MAC address of an Ethernet interface.
Static Link Local Address
If you can see it's derived from the MAC address then it's probably static.
 However, you can't use link local addresses in DNS. Link local addresses
are not globally unique and can't be routed. If you want to use IPv6 then
get global addresses from your ISP or generate a block of ULA addresses
for private use.
d. Anycast
Anycast is a network addressing and routing methodology in which a
single destination address has multiple routing paths to two or more
endpoint destinations. ... Anycast networks are widely used for content
delivery network (CDN) products to bring their content closer to the end
user.
e. Multicast
Multicast is communication between a single sender and multiple
receivers on a network. Typical uses include the updating of mobile
personnel from a home office and the periodic issuance of online
newsletters. Together with anycast and unicast, multicast is one of the
packet types in the Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6).
f. Modified EUI 64
The EUI-64 method works in collaboration with IPv6 addresses. It is used to
derive the host portion (/64) of the IP addresses from the interface MAC
address by inserting FFFE in the middle (to go from 48 to 64 bits) and
inverting the 7th most significant bit in the MAC address.
5. Define and differentiate Stateful DHCP and SLAAC.

A Stateful address assignment involves someone keeping track of the

State. Which is to say, some system exists that provides a log that certain IP
addresses were assigned to certain MAC addresses. DHCP / DHCPv6 keeps truck
of such information.
SLAAC is a method in which the host or router interface is assigned a 64-bit
prefix, and then the last 64 bits of its address are derived by the host or router
with help of EUI-64 process which is described in next few lines

Difference

SLAAC automatically works with a router, while Stateless DHCPv6 gives

addresses using SLAAC and extra information using DHCP. The only configuration where
the server gives IPv6 addresses is the Stateful one.