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SUMMARY
Ø Introduction .................................................................................................... 3
ü Why IPv6? ...........................................................................................3
ü Who could benefit from using IPv6?...........................................................4
ü IPv6 features........................................................................................4
n Large Address Space .................................................................................................... 5
n Extensibility................................................................................................................ 6
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This document is copyright 2003 6WIND and may not be distributed without explicit permission by 6WIND.
6WIND White Paper – IPv6: Features and Benefits - 05/03/2003
Ø INTRODUCTION
IP has its roots in early research networks of the 1970s. But within the past decade, it has become the
primary vehicle for a vast array of client/server and peer-t o-peer communications, and its current scale of
deployment is straining many aspects of its twenty-years old design.
In order to fuel the growth of the Internet, the IETF has produced a set of specifications that define the next -
generation IP protocol known as "IPv6." Though it is based on much-needed enhancements to IPv4
standards, IPv6 should be viewed as a new protocol that will provide a firmer base for the continued growth
of today's Internet-works.
IPv6 is designed to improve IPv4's scalability, security, ease -of-configuration, and network management;
these issues are central to the competitiveness and performance of all types of network-dependent
businesses. IPv4 can be modified to perform some of these functions, but it is likely that the results would be
far less efficient than what would be obtained by widespread deployment of IPv6. On the other hand, IPv6
aims to preserve existing investment as much as possible.
From the beginning, IPv6 was designed to ease the integration of existing IPv4 networks and applications
with the new IPv6 ones. It is expected that IPv4 and IPv6 will coexist for many years.
The present white paper describes the features and benefits of the IPv6 protocol.
ü Why IPv6?
IPv4 has not been substantially changed since the publication of its specifications in 1981. IPv4 has proved to
be robust, easily implemented, interoperable and scalable enough to enable a global utility of the size of
today’s Internet. However, the initial design did not anticipate IP’s huge deployment, and several problems
now lead to the deployment of IPv6:
• The explosive growth of the Internet and the emerging exhaustion of IPv4 addresses. IPv4
addresses have become relatively scarce. There is no doubt that the number of addresses used will
significantly increase in the near future:
o Emerging countries will need more and more addresses to develop their economy.
o The number of equipments to be connected to the Internet such as PDAs, mobile phones,
vehicles, or home Internet appliances will require more and more addresses.
o The number of “always-on” connections is also growing. The deployment of broadband
access networks such as DSL or cable networks induces permanent connections.
o The development of peer to peer applications which require the use of stable, permanent
addresses.
The IPv4 addresses shortage has caused the deployment of several short-term solutions which
are now approaching their limits:
o The use of non-permanent addresses. This method saves addresses as they are only
allocated when needed. This method is beneficial on networks with non-permanent
connectivity such as dial-up networks. However, it harms the deployment of new services
such as push services or peer to peer on broadband access networks.
o The use of Network Address Translator (NAT). This mechanism saves addresses by
multiplexing the outbound IP traffic of a site on a small pool of IP addresses (often only one
address). However, this mechanism also brings problems with security (IPsec is not
compatible with NATs), remote management and peer to peer services.
• The growth of the Internet and the ability of Internet backbone routers to maintain large routing
tables. Because of the way that IPv4 network addresses have been and are currently allocated, there
are currently over 100,000 routes in the routing table of the Internet backbone routers. The current
IPv4 Internet routing infrastructure is a combination of both flat and hierarchical routing. With IPv6,
the routing burden is eased by the use of an aggregatable addressing scheme, and the hardware
processing of the protocol is made easier.
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6WIND White Paper – IPv6: Features and Benefits - 05/03/2003
• The need for simpler configuration. Most current IPv4 implementations have to be either manually
configured or use a stateful address configuration protocol such as Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol (DHCP). With more computers and devices using IP, there is a need for a simpler and more
automatic configuration of addresses and other configuration settings.
The IPv6 stateless auto-configuration enables the deployment of unmanaged networks (for home
applications for instance) or fast evolving networks (military applications, crisis management…)
• The requirement for security at the IP level. Private communications over a public medium like the
Internet require encryption services that protect the data being sent from being viewed or modified
in transit. Although a standard now exists for providing security for IPv4 packets (known as Internet
Protocol security or IPsec), this standard is optional. The support of IPsec is mandatory in IPv6
implementations.
• The need for better support for real-time delivery of data, called as well quality of service (QoS). QoS
also exists for IPv4. Unfortunately, the IPv4 TOS field has limited functionalities and over time there
were various local interpretations. In addition, payload identification may not be possible when IP
security is in use. IPv6 keeps the existing IPv4 TOS (Traffic Class in IPv6) but it can be enriched with
the use of the flow label field in the IPv6 header.
• Efficient mobility mechanisms in IP have become critical with the apparition of new mobile devices
such as PDAs or mobile phones. IPv6 has been designed with efficient built -in mobility mechanisms.
• The arrival of multimedia applications which would be far more efficient with an effective multicast
support in IP. The support of multicast in mandatory in IPv6.
The design of IPv6 is intentionally targeted for minimal impact on upper and lower layer protocols by avoiding
the random addition of new features.
ü IPv6 features
• Extensibility
The following sections provide more detailed descriptions of these features.
n Multicast Support
From the start, multicast has also been taken into account in IPv6. Multicast support is mandatory in IPv6
implementations, and IPv6 devices are dimensioned for multicast.
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6WIND White Paper – IPv6: Features and Benefits - 05/03/2003
n Extensibility
IPv6 can easily be extended for new features by adding extension headers after the IPv6 header. Unlike
options in the IPv4 header, which can only support 40 bytes of options, the size of IPv6 extension headers is
only constrained by the size of the IPv6 packet.
Figure 1 compares the format of IPv4 and IPv6 headers. The IPv6 header format is in fact much simpler than
the IPv4 one.
IPv6
Destination Address
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ü IPv6 Extensions
IPv6 includes an improved option mechanism over IPv4. IPv6 options are placed in separate extension
headers that are located between the IPv6 header and the transport -layer header in a packet. Most IPv6
extension headers are not examined or processed by any router along a packet's delivery path until it arrives
at its final destination. This facilitates a major improvement in router performance for packets containing
options. In IPv4 the presence of any options requires the router to examine all options.
The other improvement is that unlike IPv4 options, IPv6 extension headers can be of arbitrary length and the
total amount of options carried in a packet is not limited to 40 bytes. This feature, plus the manner in which
they are processed, permits IPv6 options to be used for functions, which was not easy in IPv4. The IPv6
authentication and security encapsulation options are a good example.
To improve performance when handling subsequent option headers and the transport protocol that follows,
IPv6 options are always an integer multiple of 8 bytes long, to retain this alignment for subsequent headers.
Currently defined IPv6 extension headers are:
• Hop-by-Hop Option: Special options requiring hop-by-hop processing.
• Routing: Extended Routing (like IPv4 loose source route).
• Fragmentation: Fragmentation and Reassembly.
• Authentication: Integrity and Authentication for IPsec.
• Encapsulation: Confidentiality for IPsec.
• Destination Options: Optional information to be examined by the destination node.
Due to its 128-bit length, a typical IPv6 represented in regular dotted hexadecimal address could appear as
quite long:
3FFE:0000:0000:0000:0003:F8FF:FE21:67CF
To make IPv6 addresses easier to write, the IETF has approved a few alternative ways to represent these
addresses. Leading zeros can be omitted in each field: it can be seen above where the field :0003: can be
written :3:. In addition, a colon (:) can be used once in an address to replace multiple fields of zeros. Using
the compressed notation, the previous example can be simplified to:
3FFE::3:F8FF:FE21:67CF
where prefix-length is a decimal value specifying how many of the left most contiguous bits of the
address comprise the prefix as in the following example:
3FFE:1234::/64
IPv6 introduces the concept of limited scope addresses such as link-local, site-local or global scopes (see
following sections). It also defines the concept of scope zone. For example, the set of links connected by a
router within a particular site can be defined as a zone. In that context, a single address may be used on
different links within a zone. That is why a notation has been added to indicate, if necessary, which interface
is used. The notation used for that purpose is the following:
ipv6-address%zone-id
The following example indicates that the eth0 interface will be used:
FE80::1234%eth0
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6WIND White Paper – IPv6: Features and Benefits - 05/03/2003
IPv6 addresses are 128-bit long and are identifiers for individual interfaces and sets of interfaces. IPv6
addresses of all types are assigned to interfaces, not nodes. A single interface may be assigned multiple IPv6
addresses of any type.
There are three types of IPv6 addresses:
• Unicast addresses identify a single interface.
• Anycast addresses identify a set of interfaces such that a packet sent to an anycast address will be
delivered to one member of the set.
• Multicast addresses identify a group of interfaces, such that a packet sent to a multicast address
is delivered to all of the interfaces in the group. IPv6 supports addresses with four times more bits
than IPv4 (128 vs. 32).
These types also exist in IPv4, but anycast and multicast support are not mandatory in IPv4. IPv4 anycast is
very limited and should only be used by routers.
There are no broadcast addresses in IPv6, their function being superseded by multicast addresses.
The specific type of IPv6 address is indicated by the leading bits in the address. The variable-length field
comprising these leading bits is called the Format Prefix (FP). The initial allocation of these prefixes is as
follows:
Fraction of
Allocation Prefix (binary) Address
Space
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This allocation supports the direct allocation of provider addresses, local use addresses, and multicast
addresses. The remainder of the address space is unassigned for future use. This can be used for expansion
of existing use (e.g. additional provider addresses, etc.) or new uses (e.g. separate locators and identifiers).
Note that anycast addresses are not shown here because they are allocated out of the unicast address space.
Approximately 15% of the address space is initially allocated. The remaining 85% is reserved for future use.
ü IPv6 addressing
n Unicast Addresses
There are several forms of unicast address assignment in IPv6: the aggregatable global unicast address, the
site-local-unicast address, the link-local-unicast address and the IPv4-capable host address. Additional
address types may be defined in the future.
Aggregatable global unicast addresses are used for global communication. Their format is:
• Format Prefix: This prefix indicates the address type, such as an aggregatable global unicast
address. Always 3 bits, coded “001”.
• Global Routing Prefix: This is the prefix that is globally routable on the Internet. One of this prefix
is provided by the ISP to each of its customer’s site. Currently, each ISP is given 32-bit long prefixes
by the local registries. It then allocates 48 bits long prefixes to each customer sites out of its prefix
space.
• Subnet ID: The subnet ID field is an identifier of a link within the site. It is used by an individual
organization to create its own local addressing hierarchy and to identify subnets. It is similar to
subnets in IPv4 except that each organization has a much greater number of subnets. The 16-bit
subnet ID field supports 65,535 individual subnets.
Organizations may choose to either route their subnet ID “flat” (e.g. not create any logical
relationship between the subnet identifiers, resulting in larger routing tables), or create a two or
more level hierarchy (resulting in smaller routing tables) in the subnet ID field.
The approach selected for structuring a subnet ID field is the responsibility of the individual
organization.
Interface Identifier: Interface identifiers are used to identify interfaces on a link. They are required to be
unique on that link. They may also be unique over a broader scope. In some cases an interface identifier will
be derived directly from that interface’s link-layer address. For all unicast addresses, except those that start
with binary value 000, interface identifiers are required to be 64-bit long and to be constructed in modified
EUI-64 format. Modified EUI-64 format-based interface identifiers may have global scope when derived from
a global token (e.g. IEEE 802 48-bit MAC or IEEE EUI-64 identifiers) or may have local scope where a global
token is not available (e.g. serial links, tunnel end-points, etc.) or where global tokens are undesirable (e.g.
temporary tokens for privacy).
• Local-Unicast Addresses
A local-unicast address is a unicast address that has only local routability scope (within the subnet or within a
subscriber network), and may have local or global uniqueness scope. They are intended for use inside a site
for “plug and play” local communication and for bootstrapping up to the use of global addresses.
Two types of local-unicast addresses have been defined: Link-local and site-local. The link-local address is for
use on a single link and the site-local one in a single site.
Link-local addresses have the following format:
1111111010 0 Interface ID
(10 bits) (54 bits) (64 bits)
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6WIND White Paper – IPv6: Features and Benefits - 05/03/2003
IPv6 transition mechanisms include a technique for hosts and routers to dynamically tunnel IPv6 packets over
IPv4 routing infrastructures. IPv6 nodes that utilize this technique are assigned special IPv6 unicast addresses
that carry an IPv4 address in the low -order 32 bits. This type of address is called an “IPv4-compatible IPv6
address” and has the following format:
A second type of IPv6 address holding an embedded IPv4 address has also been defined. It allows to
represent an IPv4 address as an IPv6 address. This type of address is termed an “IPv4-mapped IPv6 address”
and has the following format:
n Anycast Addresses
An IPv6 anycast address is an address that is assigned to more than one interface (typically belonging to
different nodes), with the property that a packet sent to an anycast address is routed to the “nearest”
interface having that address, according to the routing protocol metrics.
Anycast addresses have several possible uses. For instance, they could be used to identify the set of routers
attached to a particular subnet, or the set of routers providing entry into a particular routing domain. The
routers belonging to an ISP all have one anycast address derived from the ISP’s prefix. This address can then
be used by customers in order to select their ISP. These addresses can also be used in order to locate the
nearest instance of a distributed resource on the network, for example the nearest Domain Name Server
(DNS).
Anycast addresses are allocated out of the unicast address space, using any of the defined unicast address
formats. Thus, anycast addresses are syntactically indistinguishable from unicast addresses. When a unicast
address is assigned to more than one interface, thus turning it into an anycast address, the nodes to which
the address is assigned must be explicitly configured to know that it is an anycast address.
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n Multicast Addresses
An IPv6 multicast address is an identifier for a group of interfaces. An interface may belong to any number of
multicast groups. Multicast addresses have the following format:
• All Nodes Addresses identify the group of all IPv6 nodes within the given scope. These addresses
have the form FF0t:0:0:0:0:0:0:1, where t =1 (node-local) or 2 (link-local).
• All Routers Addresses identify the group of all IPv6 routers within the given scope. These
addresses have the form FF0t:0:0:0:0:0:0:2, where t =1 (node-local) or 2 (link-local).
The work on transition strategies, tools, and mechanisms has been part of the basic IPv6 design effort from
the beginning. These transition design efforts resulted in a basic Transition Mechanisms specification for IPv6
hosts and routers which address the transition from the traditional IPv4-based Internet as we know it today,
to an IPv6-based Internet. It is expected that IPv4 and IPv6 will coexist for many years during this transition.
Migration methods are described in 6WIND White Paper « IPv6 – Transition Mechanisms ».
IP address configuration is today one of the main tasks of IP system administrators. It is often a long, time-
consuming and tedious work that requires the use of expensive manual input. This configuration consists in
obtaining:
• An address when a machine is connected to a network for the first time.
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• A new address further to the machine renumbering on a site, for example after a change of access
provider.
IPv6 specification describes several types of address configuration:
• Manual address configuration: addresses are written in a local configuration file in every host.
This method does not require the implementation of a dedicated configuration protocol but it is
expensive in case of reconfiguration.
• Stateless address configuration: this method relies on the IPv6 address structure. IPv6
addresses are made of a prefix network and of an identifying interface. Prefixed networks are
generally advertised by routers on every link while the interface identifier is built locally in the host
either from the MAC address of the network card, or from a random token (for privacy addresses).
From these elements, every host can build its own IPv6 addresses. The configuration is limited to
prefix configuration in routers, machine hosts configuring automatically. The role of the router is
important in this method since it has to periodically advertise prefixes to be used on the medium
through the Neighbor Discovery protocol. However, the use of a router is not compulsory: if no
router is used, host stations still can make use of link-local addresses. Stateless address
configuration is possible only in IPv6 because the structure of IPv4 addresses does not allow it.
• Stateful address configuration: this method relies on a specific protocol such as DHCP. A host
which wants to obtain an IP address has to request it through a local client that communicates with
a remote relay or server. This kind of protocol is rather complex.
Auto-configuration methods are detailed in 6WIND White Paper « IPv6 – Auto-configuration Mechanisms ».
IPv6 fully supports multicast. In IPv6, the IPv4 Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) has been
replaced by the Multicast Listener Discovery (MLD) Protocol. MLD is in fact derived from IGMPv2 and both
protocols now evolve in a similar manner.
IPv6 multicast routing protocols are almost identical to IPv4 ones, PIM and DVMRP now support IPv6. New
multicast routing protocols such as PIM-SSM are even often implemented in IPv6 before being implemented in
IPv4.
As mentioned above, IPv6 nodes use IPv6 stateless address auto-configuration to generate addresses without
the necessity of a DHCP server. Addresses are formed by combining network prefixes with an interface
identifier. On interfaces that contain embedded IEEE Identifiers, the interface identifier can typically be
derived from it. This method is very simple and robust, but it makes it easy for eavesdroppers and other
information collectors to gather information on who is doing what.
IPv6 also supports random numbers in the interface ID field that are designed to change over time. This
feature in now used in most IPv6 host implementations. The use of these changing addresses makes it very
difficult to determine if different transactions originate from the same node.
ü IPv6 routing
Routing in IPv6 is almost identical to IPv4 routing under CIDR except that the addresses are 128-bit IPv6
addresses instead of 32-bit IPv4 addresses. With very straightforward extensions, all of IPv4’s routing
algorithms (RIP, OSPF, IS-IS, etc.) can be used to route IPv6.
IPv6 routing protocols are secured by IPsec.
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The 6WIND OS, SixOS, includes an IPv6 stack that is compliant with the latest IETF RFCs and drafts, as
listed below:
RFC 2463 Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMPv6) for the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)
Specification
RFC 2465 Management Information Base for IP version 6: Textual Conventions and General Group
RFC 2428 FTP Extensions for IPv6 and NATs (ftp only)
RFC 2474 Definition of the Differentiated Services Field (DS field) in the IPv4 and IPv6 Headers
RFC 2491 IPv6 over Non-Broadcast Multiple Access (NBMA) networks – (PVC mode only)
RFC 2545 Use of BGP-4 Multiprotocol Extensions for IPv6 Inter-Domain Routing
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6WIND White Paper – IPv6: Features and Benefits - 05/03/2003
Ø ACRONYMS
ARP Address Resolution Protocol
ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
CIDR Classless Inter-Domain Routing
DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
DNS Domain Name Server
DiffServ Differentiated Services
DSL Digital Subscriber Line
DVMRP Distance-Vector Multicast Routing Protocol
FP Format Prefix
ICMPv6 Internet Control Message Protocol for IPv6
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IGMP Internet Group Management Protocol
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
IGMP Internet Group Management Protocol
IP Internet Protocol
IPsec Internet Protocol Security
IPv4 Internet Protocol version 4
IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6
IS-IS Intermediate System to Intermediate System
ISP Internet Service Provider
MLD Multicast Listener Discovery
NAT Network Address Translation
OSPF Open Shortest Path First
PPP Point to Point Protocol
ICMPv4 Internet Control Message Protocol for IPv4
ICMPv6 Internet Control Message Protocol for IPv6
PDA Personal Digital Assistant
PIM-SSM Protocol-Independent Multicast - Single Source Multicast
PIM Protocol-Independent Multicast
RIP Routing Information Protocol
QoS Quality of Service
TLA Top-Level Aggregator
VLAN Virtual Local Area Network
WLAN Wireless Local Area Network
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