[c-nsp] ipv6

[Jay Ford]

On Wed, 5 Jun 2013, Aaron wrote:
> There seems to be so many ways to do ipv6..(I'm not clear on what to use and
> why to use it and when to use it..)
>
> I work for an isp of about 30,000 customers.
> -          Ftth
> -          Dsl
> -          Cable modem
>
> What is the best way to migrate my customers to IPv6 with zero impact
> (meaning, all internet and services are still reachable when done moving to
> ipv6) ?
>
> I don't need configs and technical details, just a technique or technology
> answer for now will suffice to get my moving in a research direction.

The best general approach is to add native IPv6 alongside IPv4 & plan to run
that way for several years.  Most clients will now do the right thing when
presented with working IPv4 & IPv6 connectivity, so your job is to add
working native IPv6.  You should try very hard to avoid NATed IPv6, so if
your IPv4 is NATed now you'll have to keep that difference in mind.

This sequence worked well for us:
    o  devise an IPv6 address plan
    o  get IPv6 address space from ARIN
    o  establish native IPv6 connectivity upstream
    o  enable IPv6 in your routed net
    o  enable IPv6 to net-related services (DNS, NTP, syslog, SNMP...)
    o  enable IPv6 on the net staff desktop net, so they can & in fact have to
       use it every day
    o  educate users, at least those who know what IP is
    o  enable IPv6 to some "early adopter" users
    o  enable IPv6 to the rest of the users

It really wasn't that hard for us to roll out native IPv6.  It took a while,
but that's a reason to get started rather than delay.  There are some things
which might not yet be up to IPv6, mainly things which try to be extra smart
(firewalls, load balancers, home gateways...) & things which are dumb
(printers, embedded control devices, home gateways...).  Yes, I know I put
home gateways in both lists. ;^) Most things in the middle of the device
spectrum behave pretty well these days.

________________________________________________________________________
Jay Ford, Network Engineering Group, Information Technology Services
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242
email: jay-ford at uiowa.edu, phone: 319-335-5555, fax: 319-335-2951