Implementing IPv6 Addressing and Basic Connectivity

IPv6, formerly named IPng (next generation), is the latest version of the Internet Protocol (IP). IP is a packet-based protocol used to exchange data, voice, and video traffic over digital networks.

Implementing IPv6 Addressing and Basic Connectivity

IPv6 quadruples the number of network address bits from 32 bits (in IPv4) to 128 bits. By being globally unique, IPv6 addresses inherently enable global reachibility and endto-end security for networked devices.

IPv6 Addressing and Basic Connectivity

The flexibility of the IPv6 address space reduces the need for private addresses and the use of Network Address Translation (NAT) thus, IPv6 enables new application protocols that do not require special processing by border routers at the edge of networks.

IPv6 Address Formats

IPv6 addresses are represented as eight groups of four hexadecimal digits separated by colons (:) in the format: 2001:0DB8:7654:3210:FEDC:BA98:7654:3210 2001:0DB8:0:0:8:800:200C:417A

IPv6 Address Formats

It is common for IPv6 addresses to contain successive hexadecimal fields of zeros. To make IPv6 addresses less cumbersome, two colons (::) may be used to compress successive hexadecimal fields of zeros at the beginning, middle, or end of an IPv6 address. Two colons (::) can be used only once in an IPv6 address, to represent the longest successive hexadecimal fields of zeros.

IPv6 Special Addresses

IANA maintains the official list of the IPv6 address space. Global unicast assignments can be found at the various RIRs or at the GRH DFP pages. There are a number of addresses with special meaning in IPv6: Unspecified address ::/128 the address with all zero bits is called the unspecified address. This address must never be assigned to an interface and is to be used only in software before the application has learned its host's source address appropriate for a pending connection. Routers must not forward packets with the unspecified address. Link local addresses ::1/128 the loopback address is a unicast local host address. If an application in a host sends packets to this address, the IPv6 stack will loop these packets back on the same virtual interface (corresponding to 127.0.0.1 in IPv4). fe80::/10 The link-local prefix specifies that the address is only valid on a single link. This is analogous to the autoconfiguration IP addresses 169.254.0.0/16 in IPv4.

IPv6 Special Addresses

Unique local addresses fc00::/7 unique local addresses (ULA) are routable only within a set of cooperating sites. They were defined in RFC 4193 as a replacement for site-local addresses (see below). The addresses include a 40-bit pseudorandom number in the routing prefix that intends to minimize the risk of conflicts if sites merge or packets are misrouted into the Internet. Despite the restricted, local usage of these addresses, their address scope is global. This is a departure from the prior definitions of site-local addresses. Multicast addresses ff00::/8 The multicast prefix designates multicast addresses as defined in "IP Version 6 Addressing Architecture" (RFC 4291). Some of these have been assigned to specific protocols, for example ff02::101 will reach all link-local NTP servers (RFC 2375). Solicited-node multicast addresses ff02::1:FFXX:XXXX XX:XXXX are the 3 low order octets of the corresponding unicast or anycast address.

IPv6 Special Addresses

IPv4 transition ::ffff:0:0/96 this prefix is used for IPv4 mapped addresses 2001::/32 Used for Teredo tunneling. 2002::/16 this prefix is used for 6 to 4 addressing. ORCHID 2001:10::/28 ORCHID (Overlay Routable Cryptographic Hash Identifiers) as per (RFC 4843). These are non-routed IPv6 addresses used for Cryptographic Hash Identifiers. Documentation 2001:db8::/32 this prefix is used in documentation (RFC 3849). The addresses should be used anywhere an example IPv6 address is given or model networking scenarios are described.

IPv6 Special Addresses

Deprecated or obsolete addresses ::/96 This is a 96-bit zero-value prefix originally known as IPv4compatible addresses. This class of addresses were used to represent IPv4 addresses within an IPv6 transition technology. Such an IPv6 address has its first 96 bits set to zero, while its last 32 bits are the IPv4 address that is represented. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has deprecated the use of IPv4-compatible addresses with publication RFC 4291. The only remaining use of this address format is to represent an IPv4 address in a table or database with fixed size members that must also be able to store an IPv6 address. fec0::/10 The site-local prefix specifies that the address is valid only within the site network of an organization. Its use has been deprecated in September 2004 by RFC 3879 and new systems must not support this special type of address. New specifications replace this address type with unique local addresses.

IPv6 Address Type: Unicast

An IPv6 unicast address is an address destined for a single interface, on a single node. A packet that is sent to a unicast address is delivered to the interface identified by that address. Cisco IOS software supports the following IPv6 unicast address types:

Aggregateable Global Address Site-Local Address Unique-Local Address Link-Local Address

Global Aggregateable Unicast Address

A global unique address is an IPv6 address thats routable on the internet and may be aggregated upwards through organizations, and eventually to the Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Addresses with a prefix of 2000::/3 (001) through E000::/3 (111) are required to have 64-bit interface identifiers in the Modified (EUI)-64 format. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) allocates the IPv6 address space in the range of 2000::/16 to regional registries.

Modified EUI-64 Interface ID

Global Aggregateable Unicast Address

The Global Unicast Address consists of a: 48-bit global routing prefix: which included the Top-Level Aggregator (TLA) and Next-Level Aggregator (NLA) but because they were policy-based they were removed) 16-bit subnet ID: (Site-Level Aggregator) used by individual organizations to create their own local addressing hierarchy and identify subnets (as in IPv4). An organization with an IPv6 subnet ID can support up to 65,535 individual subnets. Interface-ID: used to identify interfaces on a link, the interface ID must be unique to the link. Interface IDs used in global unicast and other IPv6 address types must be 64 bits long and constructed in the modified EUI-64 format.

Site-Local address
A site-local address is an IPv6 unicast address that uses the prefix FEC0::/10, and concatenates the subnet identifier (16-bit SLA field) with the interface identifier in the modified EUI-64 format. Site-local addresses can be used to number a complete site without using a globally unique prefix. Site-local addresses can be considered private addresses because they can be used to restrict communication to a limited domain. IPv6 routers must not forward packets that have sitelocal source or destination addresses outside of the site. Site-local addresses are being obsolecesed by Unique-local addresses, though some still exist.

Site-Local address

Unique Local Address

A unique local address is an IPv6 unicast address with a prefix FC00::/7 or FD00::/7, thats globally unique, and intended for local communications. They are not expected to be routable on the global Internet and are routable inside of a limited area, such as a site.

A unique local address has: It has a well-known, globally unique prefix to allow for easy filtering at site boundaries. It allows sites to be combined or privately interconnected without creating any address conflicts or requiring renumbering of interfaces that use these prefixes. It is ISP-independent and can be used for communications inside of a site without having any permanent or intermittent Internet connectivity. If it is accidentally leaked outside of a site via routing or DNS, there is no conflict with any other addresses. Applications may treat unique local addresses like global scoped addresses.

Unique Local Address

Link-Local Address
A link-local address is an IPv6 unicast address that can be automatically configured on any interface It Uses the link-local prefix FE80::/10 (1111 1110 10) and the interface identifier in modified EUI-64format. Link-local addresses are used in the neighbor discovery protocol and the stateless autoconfiguration process. Nodes on a local link can use link-local addresses to communicate; the nodes do not need site-local or globally unique addresses to communicate. IPv6 routers must not forward packets that have linklocal source or destination addresses to other links.

Link-Local Address

Internet transition: Migrating IPv4 to IPv6

If the Internet is to realize the benefits of IPv6, a period of transition will be necessary when new IPv6 hosts and routers are deployed alongside existing IPv4 systems. RFC 2893 (Transition Mechanisms for IPv6 Hosts and Routers) and RFC2185 (Routing Aspects of IPv6 Transition), define a number of mechanisms to ensure both the compatibility between old and new systems and a gradual transition that doesnt impact functionality of the Internet. These techniques are sometimes collectively termed Simple Internet Transition (SIT).

IPv4/IPv6 Transitional addresses

The transition employs the following techniques: Dual-stack IP implementations for hosts and routers that must interoperate between IPv4 and IPv6. IPv6-over-IPv4 tunneling mechanisms for carrying IPv6 packets across IPv4 router networks. IPv4/IPv6 header translation. This technique is intended for use when implementation of IPv6 is well advanced and only a few IPv4-only systems remain. Embedding of IPv4 addresses in IPv6 addresses. IPv6 hosts will be assigned addresses that are interoperable with IPv4, and IPv4 host addresses will be mapped to IPv6.

IPv4/IPv6 Compatible addresses

An IPv4-compatible IPv6 address is an IPv6 unicast address that has zeros in the high-order 96 bits, and an IPv4 address in the low-order 32 bits of the address. The format: 0:0:0:0:0:0:192.0.2.128 or ::192.0.2.128 The IPv6 address of a node is the entire 128-bit IPv4compatible IPv6 address with embedded IPv4 address and the IPv4 address of the node is the loworder 32 bits from the 128 bit address. IPv4-compatible IPv6 addresses are assigned to nodes that support both IPv4 and IPv6 protocol stacks and are used in automatic tunnels.
80 bits zeros 16 bits 0000(=96) 32 bits 192.0.2.128

IPv6/IPv4 Mapped addresses

Dual stack IPv6/IPv4 implementations typically support a special class of addresses, the IPv4 mapped addresses. This address type has its first 80 bits set to zero, the next 16 set to one (FFFF), while its last 32 bits represent an IPv4 address. For example, ::ffff:c000:280(all hex) is the IPv4 mapped address for the IPv4 address 192.0.2.128.

IPv4 Mapped addresses cont.

As an exception to standard IPv6 address (all hex), notation

IPv4 mapped addresses are commonly represented with their last 32 bits written in dot-decimal notation (eg. IPv4), appended to the standard IPv6 notation of the leading bits, e.g. ::ffff:c000:280 could be written as ::ffff:192.0.2.128.
80 bits zeros 16 bits FFFF 32 bits 192.0.2.128

IPv4 Mapped addresses cont.

This address type allows the transparent use of the transport layer protocols over IPv4 through the IPv6 networking API. A benefit of this mechanism is that server applications only need to open a single listening socket to handle connections from clients using IPv6 or IPv4 protocols. IPv6 clients will be handled natively by default, and IPv4 clients appear as IPv6 clients with an appropriately mapped address. It can also be used to establish IPv4 connections specifically with an IPv6 socket. While the network protocol on the transmission medium is IPv4, the connection is presented as an IPv6 interface to the application.

IPv6 Address Type: Anycast

An Anycast address is an address that is assigned to a set of interfaces that typically belong to different routers. A packet sent to an anycast address is delivered to the closest interface as defined by the routing protocols in use. Anycast addresses are syntactically the same as unicast addresses since theyre allocated from the unicast address space. Routers to which the anycast address are assigned must be explicitly configured to recognize that the address is an anycast address.

IPv6 Address Type: Anycast Anycast addresses can be used only by a router, not a host, and anycast addresses must not be used as the source address of an IPv6 packet.

IPv6 Address Type: Multicast

An IPv6 multicast address is an IPv6 address that has a prefix of FF00::/8 (1111 1111). An IPv6 multicast address is an identifier for a set of interfaces that typically belong to different nodes. A packet sent to a multicast address is delivered to all interfaces identified by the multicast address.

IPv6 Address Type: Multicast

The second octet following the prefix defines the lifetime and scope of the multicast address. A permanent multicast address has a lifetime parameter equal to 0. A temporary multicast address has a lifetime parameter equal to 1. A multicast address that has the scope of a node, link, site, or organization, or a global scope has a scope parameter of 1, 2, 5, 8, or E, respectively.
For example, a multicast address with the prefix FF02::/16 is a permanent multicast address with a link scope.

IPv6 Address Type: Multicast

IPv6 Multicast Groups

Group ID (Interface Id, above slide) Identifies the multicast group. Some special purpose multicast addresses are predefined as follows: FF01::1 All interfaces node-local. FF02::1 All nodes link-local. FF01::2 All routers node-local. FF02::2 All routers link-local. FF05::2 All routers site-local. FF02::B Mobile agents link-local. FF02::1:2 All DHCP agents link-local. FF05::1:3 All DHCP servers site-local. All interfaces on the host itself. All systems on the local network. All routers local to the host itself. All routers on the same link as the host. All routers on the same site as the host.

IPv6 Multicast Groups

A special multicast address, the solicited node multicast address, is used by ICMP for neighbor discovery and duplicate address detection. It has the format: FF02::1:FFxx:xxxx, where xx xxxx is taken from the last 24-bits of a nodes unicast address. A nodes IPv6 address of 4025::01:800:100F:7B5B belongs to the multicast group FF02::1:FF0F:7B5B. For a more complete listing of reserved multicast addresses, see the IANA documentation IPv6 Multicast Addresses Assignments.

IPv6 Header Format

The basic IPv6 packet header has 8 fields with a total size of 40 octets. Fields were removed from the IPv6 header because, in IPv6, fragmentation is not handled by routers and checksums at the network layer are not used. Instead, fragmentation in IPv6 is handled by the source of a packet and checksums at the data link layer and transport layer are used. In IPv4, the User Datagram Protocol transport layer uses an optional checksum. In IPv6, use of the UDP checksum is required to check the integrity of the inner packet. Additionally, the basic IPv6 packet header and options field are aligned to 64 bits, which can facilitate the processing of IPv6 packets.

IPv6 Basic IP Header

IPv6 Basic Packet Header

Version Traffic Class Flow Label Payload Length Next Header Similar to the Version field in the IPv4 packet header, except that the field lists number 6 for IPv6 instead of number 4 for IPv4. Similar to the Type of Service field in the IPv4 packet header. The Traffic Class field tags packets with a traffic class that is used in differentiated services. A new field in the IPv6 packet header. The Flow Label field tags packets with a specific flow that differentiates the packets at the network layer. Similar to the Total Length field in the IPv4 packet header. The Payload Length field indicates the total length of the data portion of the packet. Similar to the Protocol field in the IPv4 packet header. The Next Header field determines the type of information following the basic IPv6 header. The type of information following the basic IPv6 header can be a transport-layer packet, for example, a TCP or UDP packet, or an Extension Header, Similar to the Time to Live field in the IPv4 packet header. The value of the Hop Limit field specifies the maximum number of routers that an IPv6 packet can pass through before the packet is considered invalid. Each router decrements the value by one. Because no checksum is in the IPv6 header, the router can decrement the value without needing to recalculate the checksum, which saves processing resources. Similar to the Source & Destination fields in the IPv4 header, except that the field contains a 128-bit address for IPv6, instead of a 32-bit source address for IPv4.

Hop Limit

Source & Dest. Address

IPv6 Extension Headers

IPv6 Extension Headers

Hop by Hop Options 0 This header is processed by all hops in the path of a packet. When present, and always follows immediately after the basic IPv6 packet header. Is processed at the final destination and also at each visited address specified by a routing header when followed by the hop-by-hop options header. Alternatively, the destination options header can follow any Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) header, in which case the destination options header is processed only at the final destination. The routing header is used for source routing. Used when a source must fragment a packet that is larger than the MTU for the path between itself and a destination. Used in each fragmented packet. The Authentication header and the ESP header are used within IP Security Protocol (IPSec) to provide authentication, integrity, and confidentiality of a packet. These headers are identical for both IPv4 and IPv6. TCP The Upper-layer headers are the typical transport-layer headers used inside a packet to transport the data. The two main transport protocols are TCP and UDP. Extension headers used by mobile nodes, correspondent nodes, and home agents in all messaging related to the creation and management of bindings.

Destination options header

60

Routing header Fragment header

43 44

Authentication header and ESP header Transport (upper-layer) headers Mobility header

51 50 6

17 UDP 135

Unicast Reverse Path Forwarding

The Unicast RPF feature is invoked to mitigate problems caused by malformed or forged (spoofed) IPv6 source addresses that pass through an IPv6 router. Malformed or forged source addresses can indicate denial-ofservice (DoS) attacks based on source IPv6 address spoofing. Unicast RPF checks to see if any packet received at a router interface arrives on one of the best return paths to the source of the packet. Unicast RPF does this by doing a reverse lookup in the CEF table. With Unicast RPF, all equal-cost best return paths are considered valid. Unicast RPF works in cases where multiple return paths exist provided that each path is equal to the others in terms of the routing cost (number of hops, weights, and so on) and as long as the route is in the FIB.

Unicast Reverse Path Forwarding

Where NOT to use Unicast RPF. Unicast RPF should not be used where UPSR ring topologies are implemented such as within the core of an ISP, or on interfaces that are internal to the network. These interfaces are likely to have routing asymmetry meaning the number of hops in the transmit and receive path differ. Unicast RPF should be applied only where there is natural or configured symmetry. As long as administrators carefully plan which interfaces they activate Unicast RPF on, routing asymmetry is not a serious problem. Routers at the edge of the network of an ISP are more likely to have symmetrical reverse paths than routers that are in the core of the ISP network. Routers that are in the core of the ISP network have no guarantee that the best forwarding path out of the router will be the path selected for packets returning to the router. Hence, it is not recommended that you apply Unicast RPF where there is a chance of asymmetric routing. It is simplest to place Unicast RPF only at the edge of a network or, for an ISP, at the customer edge of the network.

Unicast Reverse Path Forwarding

Unicast RPF Blocking Traffic in an Asymmetrical Routing Environment

Path MTU Discovery for IPv6

As in IPv4, path MTU discovery in IPv6 allows a host to dynamically discover and adjust to differences in the MTU size of every link along a given data path. In IPv6, however, fragmentation is handled by the source of a packet when the path MTU of one link along a given data path is not large enough to accommodate the size of the packets. Having IPv6 hosts handle packet fragmentation saves IPv6 router processing resources and helps IPv6 networks run more efficiently. In IPv6, the minimum link MTU is 1280 octets. We recommend using an MTU value of 1500 octets for IPv6 links.

IPv6 Neighbor Discovery

Neighbor discovery is a function that enables a node to identify other hosts and routers on its links. The node needs to know of at least one router so that it knows where to forward packets if a target node is not on its local link. Neighbor discovery also allows a router to redirect a node to use a more appropriate router if the node has initially made an incorrect choice. There are two ways that neighbor discovery are performed in IPv6. Statelessly via ICMPv6 and Statefuly via DHCPv6

IPv6 Neighbor Discovery

An IP address is obtained statefuly (DHCPv6) or Statelessly (ICMPv6) The M bit in an RA message determines how the IP address is obtained. The O bit determines if other configuration parameters are configured statefuly as well. An IP address is obtained statefuly (DHCPv6) if the M bit is set (1). An IP address is obtained Statelessly (ICMPv6) if the M bit is not set (0).

Internet Control Message Protocol Version 6 (ICMPv6)

In order for IP to move data from one node to another successfully, there are many functions that need to be carried out, (error reporting, route discovery, and diagnostics) to name a few. These tasks are carried out by Internet Control Message Protocol ICMPv6 also carries out the tasks of conveying multicast group membership information, (a function that was previously performed by the IGMP protocol in IPv4), and address resolution, (previously performed by ARP). ICMPv6 messages and their use are specified in RFC 4443 Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMPv6) for the Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) and RFC 2461 Neighbor Discovery for IP Version 6 (IPv6). Both RFCs are draft standards with a status of elective. Every ICMPv6 message is preceded by an IPv6 header (and possibly some IP extension headers). The ICMPv6 header is identified by a Next Header value of 58 in the immediately preceding header.

Internet Control Message Protocol Version 6 (ICMPv6)

There are two classes of ICMPv6 messages. Error messages Type 0 to 127. Informational messages Type 128 to 255.

Internet Control Message Protocol Version 6 (ICMPv6)

ICMPv6 message types include: 1 2 3 4 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 Destination Unreachable Packet Too Big Time (Hop Count) Exceeded Parameter Problem Echo Request Echo Reply Group Membership Query Group Membership Report Group Membership Reduction Router Solicitation Router Advertisement Neighbor Solicitation Neighbor Advertisement Redirect Message

IPv6 Neighbor Discovery Messages

Type 133 Router Solicitation Message Type 134 Router Advertisement Message Type 135 Neighbor Solicitation Message Type 136 Neighbor Advertisement Message Type 137 Neighbor Redirect Message

IPv6 Neighbor Solicitation Message

When a node wants to determine the link-layer address of another node, the source address in a neighbor solicitation message is the IPv6 address of the node sending the neighbor solicitation message (Type 135). The destination address in the neighbor solicitation message is the solicited-node multicast address that corresponds to the IPv6 address of the destination node. The neighbor solicitation message also includes the link-layer address of the source node. Neighbor solicitation messages are also used to verify the reachability of a neighbor after the link-layer address of a neighbor is identified. When a node wants to verify the reachability of a neighbor, the destination address in a neighbor solicitation message is the unicast address of the neighbor.

IPv6 Neighbor Solicitation Message

IPv6 Neighbor Solicitation Message

IPv6 Neighbor Advertisement Message

After receiving the neighbor solicitation message, the destination node replies by sending a neighbor advertisement message, (Type 136) in the Type field of the ICMP packet header, on the local link. The source address in the neighbor advertisement message is the IPv6 address of the node interface sending the neighbor advertisement message. The destination address in the neighbor advertisement message is the IPv6 address of the node that sent the neighbor solicitation message. The data portion of the neighbor advertisement message includes the link-layer address of the node sending the neighbor advertisement message. Neighbor advertisement messages are also sent when there is a change in the link-layer address of a node on a local link. When there is such a change, the destination address for the neighbor advertisement is the all-nodes multicast address.

IPv6 Neighbor Advertisement Message

IPv6 Neighbor Advertisement Message

IPv6 Router Advertisement Message

Router advertisement (RA) messages, have a value of 134 in the Type field of the ICMP packet header, are periodically sent out each configured interface of an IPv6 router. For stateless autoconfiguration to work properly, the advertised prefix length in RA messages must always be 64 bits. The RA messages are sent to the all-nodes multicast address.

IPv6 Router Advertisement Message

IPv6 Router Advertisement Message

IPv6 Router Solicitation Message

Router solicitation messages, value of Type 133 of the ICMP packet header, are sent by hosts at system startup so that the host can immediately autoconfigure without needing to wait for the next scheduled RA message. Router solicitation messages are usually sent by hosts at system startup (the host does not have a configured unicast address), the source address in router solicitation messages is usually the unspecified IPv6 address (0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0). RAs are also sent in response to router solicitation messages.

IPv6 Router Solicitation Message

IPv6 Neighbor Redirect Message

Routers send neighbor redirect messages to inform hosts of better first-hop nodes on the path to a destination. A value of 137 in the Type field of the ICMP packet header identifies an IPv6 neighbor redirect message. A router must be able to determine the link-local address for each of its neighboring routers in order to ensure that the target address in a redirect message identifies the neighbor router by its linklocal address. For static routing, the address of the next-hop router should be specified using the link-local address of the router. For dynamic routing, all IPv6 routing protocols must exchange the link-local addresses of neighboring routers.

IPv6 Neighbor Redirect Message

IPv6 Neighbor Redirect Message

IPv6 Stateless Auto-configuration

A node on the link can automatically configure sitelocal and global IPv6 addresses by appending its 64 bit interface ID to the 64 bit prefixes included in the RA messages. The resulting 128-bit IPv6 addresses configured by the node are then subjected to duplicate address detection to ensure their uniqueness on the link. If the prefixes advertised in the RA messages are globally unique, then the IPv6 addresses configured by the node are also guaranteed to be globally unique. Router solicitation messages, which have a value of 133 in the Type field of the ICMP packet header, are sent by hosts at system startup so that the host can immediately autoconfigure without needing to wait for the next scheduled RA message.

IPv6 Stateless Auto-configuration

DHCP for IPv6 Prefix Delegation

DHCP for IPv6 can be used in environments to deliver statefull and stateless information. Again the M bit allows the IP address to be obtained statefully when set (1) and statelessly when not (0) Other configuration parameters can be obtained statefully via the O bit when set (1). For further information about this feature, see the Implementing DHCP for IPv6 module in the Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Library.

IPv6 Prefix Aggregation

The aggregatable nature of the IPv6 address space enables an IPv6 addressing hierarchy. An enterprise can subdivide a single IPv6 prefix from a service provider into multiple, longer prefixes for use within its internal network. Conversely, a service provider can aggregate all of the prefixes of its customers into a single, shorter prefix that the service provider can then advertise over the IPv6 internet.
(see Figure 17)

IPv6 Prefix Aggregation

IPv6 Site Multi-homing Multiple IPv6 prefixes can be assigned to networks and hosts. Having multiple prefixes assigned to a network makes it easy for that network to connect to multiple ISPs without breaking the global routing table.

(see Figure 18)

IPv6 Site Multi-homing

Dual IPv4 and IPv6 Protocol Stacks

The Dual IPv4 and IPv6 protocol stack technique can be used to transition to IPv6 by enabling gradual one-by-one upgrades to applications running on nodes. Applications running on nodes are upgraded to make use of the IPv6 protocol stack. Applications that are not upgraded, support only the IPv4 coexisting with upgraded applications on a node. New and upgraded applications make use of both the IPv4 and IPv6 protocol stacks. (see Figure 19).

Dual IPv4 and IPv6 Protocol Stacks

Dual IPv4 and IPv6 Protocol Stacks