IPv6 Transition - Case Study Example

? IPv6 Transition Case Study IPv6 Transition Case Study Introduction IPv6 protocol was created in the 1990s by the InternationalEngineering Task Force (IETF) as a solution to the limitations and the dwindling supply of IPv4 addresses. With the imminent long awaited exhaustion of the current IPv4 address space, there is increasing need for the government to devise and initiate an effective transition plan for government agencies, businesses, companies as well as other internet protocol users (Hinden and Deering, 2006). As a result, the U. S. government recently mandated IPv6 compliance regulations and requirements to help with the transition process between IPv4 to IPv6 platform. The new mandates particularly require all government agencies to begin to have emails, websites and other online services available over IPv6. Having been appointed as the regional IPv6 transition manager of the Environmental Protection Agency for Berkeley branch, California, this paper discusses by transition plan including the proposed timetable for compliance with the IPv6 Mandate, guidelines, solutions as well as the required technologies for IPv6 transition compliance throughout Berkeley Environmental Protection Agency branch. Fig 1: Dwindling availability of IPv4 addresses Summary of the applicable government IPv6 mandate In order to facilitate the planned transition from IPv4 to IPv6 protocols, the U.S government recently introduced an IPv6 compliance mandate consisting of various regulations and requirements designed not only to accelerate the process but also to help various agencies prepare for the eventual migration into the new protocol. The IPv6 mandate that is scheduled to come into effect on May 30th next year requires all federal agencies to transfer their public facing email services, DNS, websites and other related services to the new IPv6 platform. In addition, all the U.S government agencies are also required to begin the installation of IPv6 enabled equipment in their organizational infrastructures. Although there is currently no penalty for non-compliance, this mandate will enable government agencies to be able to support IPv6 on their internal and operational networks before the imminent switch off from the current IPv4 protocol. Networking Facility at the Branch The networking facility at the Environmental Protection Agency Berkeley branch consists of a single LAN together with a number of Servers, switches and routers. Generally, the networking facility at our small branch at Berkeley is primarily designed to allow all the members of the agency to share information as well as other necessary peripherals such as office laser printers. Internet connection is achieved by means of a local TCP/IP network set up and an ISP account allows all the members of branch to access internet and emails over LAN. On the other hand, the EPA branch has relies on a backbone network for the agency that channels data to the other branches across the country with a local area networks established in each branch. A number of switches have been used to connect various devices such as computers, servers and printers on the same network within the branch. Additionally, routers have been used to tie our multiple networks together thereby enabling our computers to share a single internet connection. Lastly, the other important services provided by the networking facility of the agency branch include database services, email, disk space and backups. All these systems are however integrated by high speed networks that are currently being managed by our highly skilled technical staff. Summary of the main IPv6-related RFCs that pertain to the IPv6 support There are a number of Request for Comments (RFCs) published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) that pertains to the current IPv6 support. Since, the early 1990s, the Internet Engineering Task Force(IETF) has always tried to create and define its major standards related to the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 through its working groups that are tasked with discussing major issues involved in the process before the results are published the request for comments(RFC) documents. The three main RFCs that pertain to the IPv5 support include RFC 6964, RFC 4213 and RFC 3596. RFC 4213 particularly specifies two IPv4 compatible mechanisms that can be effectively implemented by IPv6 hosts and routers during the transition process. The two specified mechanisms include configured tunneling and dual stack. On the other hand, with regard to the proposed transition from IPv4 to IPv6, the published request for comments 3596 defines and discusses a scheme known as Domain Name System where by the host names are mapped onto the IPv6 addresses using AAAA resource records. Lastly, RFC 6964 defines the Operational Guidance that should be used during IPv6 deployment based on the intra-site automatic tunnel addressing protocol (ISATAP). Cooperation with ISPs and equipment vendors to implement IPv6 support Compliance with the new government mandate for all federal agencies to transfer their public facing email services, DNS, websites and other related services to the new IPv6 platform will require significant cooperation will all stakeholders including ISPs as well as various IT hardware or software vendors. While many internet service providers have now moved to IPv6, a small minority are still banking on their Ipv4 addresses stock. Our cooperation is intended to develop a mutual plan with the existing internet service providers as well as the relevant equipment vendors to ensure they are able to provide the necessary services and equipment needed for compliance with the IPv6 transition mandate. Summary of the Solutions and Technologies to be employed in implementing IPv6  In order to successfully achieve compliance with the new IPv6 mandate, a number of solutions and technologies will be employed during the implementation of the protocol. Some of the solution and technologies that will be used in my agency branch include dual stacking, tunneling and transition. Dual Stack technology involves building parallel IPv6 networks next to the existing IPv4 network without necessarily undergoing a complete transition to IPv6. When a network is configured as dual stack, all the devices connected on the network will be configured with both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. However, it is expected that the IPv4 network will be depreciated once all the devices in the agency have effectively implemented IPv6 (Nordmark and Gilligan, 1993). On the other hand, tunneling is another important solution and technology that will involve tunneling an IPv6 protocol over our current existing IPv4 network (Yong et al., 2013). Although there are a number of tunneling methods currently available, our branch will particularly employ ISATAP to help the agency provide numerous points to multipoint IPv6 links of the current existing IPv4 network. According to Wang (2001), this method is generally designed to connect devices using the same site. Lastly, transition technology will also be used to help map our existing IPv4 addresses onto the new IPv6 address by placing a boundary router between the two networks. Fig 2: IPv6 Transition Technologies Timetable for completion of IPv6 transition Transition Activity 2013     2014 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12  Awareness Campaign and Preparation                           Educating the agency staff about the proposed transition                           Purchasing IPv6 compliant equipment and software                           Implementation IPv6 Solutions                           Dual stacking                           Tunneling                           Transition                            Migration of Applications                           Hosting Website on IPv6                           Hosting Email on IPv6                           Migration of Other Services                           Testing the IPv6 compliance in expectation of an audit by the government After the completion of the IPv6 mandate compliance process, a comprehensive testing will be carried out to ensure that the networking facility at the branch has fully complied with the government mandate. A number of standards and system interoperability methods will be used to gauge the success of the compliance process as well as identify potential gaps prior ti the impending government audit. References Hinden, R., Deering, S. (2006). Transition: IP Version 6 Addressing Architecture . IETF, 2006 . RFC 4291. Nordmark, E., Gilligan, R. (1993). Basic Transition Mechanisms for IPv6 Hosts and Routers. RFC 4213, IETF. Yong C., Jiang D. Peng W. (2013). Tunnel-Based IPv6 Transition. IEEE Internet Computing, 17.2, 62-68,  Wang, K. (2001). DTTS: a Transparent and Scalable Solution for IPv4 to IPv6 Transition. Proceedings of the tenth International Conference on Computer Communications and Networks,4,2, 248-253. Read More