[ppml] Soliciting comments: IPv4 to IPv6 fast migration

[William Herrin]

On 7/25/07, Keith W. Hare <Keith at jcc.com> wrote:
> I see a several impediments to adopting IPv6:
>
> 1. Current ARIN policies favor Provider Agregatable (PA) address
> allocations rather than Provider Independent allocations (PI).  Since
> IPv6 discourages NAT, this suggests that I get an IPv6 address
> assignment from an ISP and number all internal resources using the ISP's
> IPv6 addresses.  Then, If I decide to switch ISPs, I have to renumber
> everything and rewrite all firewall rules.  Why would I adopt a protocol
> that tied me to an ISP?

Hi Keith,

This proposal addresses that concern by allowing you to move your
existing IPv4 PI block forward in to IPv6.


> 2.  I have lots of devices on the internal network that may not (or
> maybe they do, I dunno) support IPv6, the temperature monitor and the
> UPS, for example.  These types of devices are going to slow the move to
> IPv6 in the internal network.

This proposal does not address that, however I would note that
deploying IPv6 does not preclude continued use of IPv4. Indeed, its
unlikely that anyone deploying IPv6 will soon stop using IPv4.


> 3.  My firewalls do not currently support IPv6 and the firewall vendor
> has not announced when IPv6 will be supported.

This proposal does not address that.


> 4.  I *think* my T1 router supports IPv6, but maybe on the next version
> of the software.  It's difficult to find the documentation.

This proposal does not address that however T1 routers which do
support IPv6 are readily available on ebay in the sub-$500 range.


> 5.  I don't know if my upstream ISP supports IPv6 yet.  Their web site
> does not say.  I asked my sales contact that question several weeks ago,
> but between various summer vacations, I haven't gotten an answer yet.

This proposal addresses that. 6to4 was specifically designed to allow
islands of IPv6 users interconnected via IPv4 networks to communicate
with each other and the native IPv6 backbone. Under this proposal, you
could begin using IPv6 immediately and then convert to native IPv6
without renumbering once your ISP supports it.


> 6. Do the software products I use support IPv6 yet?

Windows XP and forward do, along with the common applications such as
Internet Explorer.

Linux kernel 2.4 and forward do as do most of the common applications
including Firefox.

I'm pretty sure Mac OS X does as well.

Regards,
Bill Herrin

-- 
William D. Herrin                  herrin at dirtside.com  bill at herrin.us
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