IPv6 Network Design

DESIGNING A SCALABLE IPV6 ADDRESSING SCHEME

IPv6 Overview
• 128 bit address field 2001:0DB8:0000:0000:0123:4567:89AB
• 8 hextets, separated by colons |16 bits|
|------------------128 bits-----------------|

• Subnet mask works exactly like an IPv4 address, just longer

• Address compression rules:
• Remove all preceding 0s in a hextet
• *Replace contiguous hextets of 0s with ::

* Once per address 2001:DB8::123:4567:89AB

IPv6 Overview cont.
• There exists private address spaces
• Likely only use public and link-local

• Most common prefix length is /64

• /64 is even recommended on point-to-point links due to EUI-64 compatibility

ISP

ARIN

ISP

/16 to /32 Assignments /48 Assignments

Private vs. Public Addressing
• Private addresses are not routable on the internet, just like IPv4
• Other private address spaces than link-local exist, but are unlikely to be used
• Note: link-local addresses are not routable at all
Link-local: FE80::(first 24 bits of MAC)FFFE(second 24 bits of MAC)
MAC = 00:14:22:01:23:45
Link-local = FE80::0014:22FF:FE01:2345

Global addresses: Start with 2001::/16

2001:0DB8::/32 is a reserved prefix for example documentation

NAT exists, but generally isn’t needed because all devices will have a publicly routable address
IPv6 Design
• Overall, use the same practices as with IPv4
• Still separate voice and data networks
• Design with summarization in mind
• Create an addressing plan and stick to it

• Summarization can be more difficult due to the large/unfamiliar address space

Migrating to IPv6
• Option 1: create IPv6 islands. ie. Migrate one chunk at a time
• Requires 6to4 tunnels and NAT-PT

Images courtesy of Ciscopress.com

Migrating to IPv6 cont.
• Option 2: Dual Stack (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

Images courtesy of Ciscopress.com

Q&A
With respect to IPv6 addressing, from a design perspective, which of these statements
is important to keep in mind?

A. IPv6 addressing provides convenience of anycast addressing without any configuration requirements.

B. IPv6 does not use multicast addressing.

C. An IPv6 router will not forward packets from one link to other links if the packet has either a
link-local source or a link-local destination address.
D. Dynamic address assignment requires DHCPv6.
Q&A
What is the most compact representation of the following IPv6 address?

2001:db8:0000:0000:cafe:0000:0000:1234
A. 2001:db8::cafe::1234
B. 2001:db8::cafe:0000:0000:1234
C. 2001:db8:0:0:cafe::1234
D. 2001:db8::cafe:0:1234