Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) is designed to increase Internet global address space to accommodate the rapidly increasing numbers of users and applications that require unique global IP addresses and help enable a global environment where the addressing rules of the network are again transparent to applications.
Is It Time for IPv6?
"In terms of what's happening right now, I think the biggest market transition is the shift to a more collaborative world, which is only made possible by what we call an "intelligent, network-centric" world. This network-centric world encompasses the whole range of communication experiences and seamlessly delivers information. Consumers will access voice, the web, e-mail, and video by any of the 14 billion devices that we think will be connected to the internet by 2010, all loaded onto the network. In the very near future, for example, you won't need to hang up your cell phone if you want to switch to a landline; you'll stay connected as you change devices, as long as they're all connected to a network."
(In a recent video interview, Cisco CEO John Chambers talks about his collaborative management model.)
Yes! The continuous growth of the global Internet requires that its overall architecture evolve to accommodate new technologies to support the growing numbers of users, applications, appliances, and services. Due to market dynamics and exhaustion of the IPv4 address space, every customer in the market will face the inevitable transition from IPv4 to IPv6.
Why Cisco?
As an early pioneer in IPv6 technology since its inception, Cisco has been a driving force in developing IPv6 standards through various standards bodies, including the Internet Engineering Task Force, and has been shipping a wide variety of end-to-end IPv6 product and solutions. Cisco is ready when you are.
What's New
Is there a business case for IPv6?
Is there a business case for IPv6?
Peter Tseronis, Deputy Associate Chief Information Officer U.S. Department of Energy discusses IPv6 roll out. (9:58 min)
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IPv6 Planning for U.S. Government
The CIO Council's IPv6 Working Group in consultation with and review by the Federal CIO Community releases guidelines. Learn more
Featured Content
Technical
IPv6 Strategies
Best practices for developing an IPv6 strategy. Listen Now (Audio - 11:51 mins)
Why should you be concerned about IPv6 security?
Learn more about how moving to IPv6 can solve your issues. Listen Now (Audio - 4:34 mins) Download
Deploying IPv6 Networks - Part 1
Learn how to plan, design, deploy, and manage IPv6 services. View Video (04:11 min)
Talking All Things Ipv6
Hear the eWeek podcast hosted by Mike Vizard featuring Sachin Gupta of Cisco. Listen Now (Audio - 15:53 min)
The continuous growth of the global Internet requires that its architecture evolve to accommodate the new technologies that support growing numbers of users, applications, appliances, and services. Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) is designed to meet these requirements by again making IP addressing rules transparent to applications.
Market Drivers
The current IP address space is unable to satisfy the potential huge increase in the number of users, the geographical needs of Internet expansion, or the requirements of emerging applications such as Internet-enabled wireless devices, home and industrial appliances, Internet-connected transportation, integrated telephony services, sensor networks such as RFID, IEEE 802.15.4/6LoWPAN, and distributed computing or gaming.
In addition to the benefits of a larger address space, IPv6 includes improvements that simplify network administration, such as:
Simplified headers for routing efficiency
Deeper hierarchy and policies for network architecture flexibility for efficient support for routing and route aggregation
Serverless autoconfiguration, easier renumbering, and improved ready-to-use support
Security with mandatory IP Security (IPSec) implementation for all IPv6 devices
Improved support for Mobile IP and mobile computing devices (direct path)
Enhanced multicast support with increased addresses and more efficient mechanisms
Cisco believes in providing its customers and partners with comprehensive information on significant emerging technologies so that they are fully informed and can work jointly with Cisco to implement the best solutions for their environments.
As an pioneer in IPv6 technology, Cisco has been a driving force in determining IPv6 standards through various standards bodies, including the Internet Engineering Task Force, and has been shipping and supporting a wide variety of end-to-end IPv6 products and solutions.
Selection of a deployment strategy depends on your current network environment, and on factors such as the forecast amount of IPv6 traffic and the availability of IPv6 applications on end systems and appliances, at a given stage in the deployment. See Cisco IPv6 Deployment Strategies for a review of some generic deployment scenarios.
Cisco IPv6 Solutions Deployment
Cisco IPv6 solutions are packaged in a feature set that is supported on specific platforms and applications packages. On Cisco IOS Software platforms, Cisco Feature Navigator dynamically updates the list of supported platforms as support for new platforms and features is added.
IPv6 services are part of Cisco IOS Software releases, and any router that runs IPv6 must conform to the minimum memory size required by the selected Cisco IOS Software release and feature set.
Before deploying IPv6, please refer to Cisco Feature Navigator to make sure that your environment meets all hardware and software prerequisites for deployment.
Start Here: Cisco IOS Software Release Specifics for IPv6 Features
Cisco IOS Software releases deliver the most complete IPv6 feature set to the market. Cisco IOS Software developments are focused on creating additional IPv6 features and innovations. A detailed list of IPv6 features and minimum software releases is available in the IPv6 Start Here document.
Datacenter Switches
The Cisco Nexus 7000 Family has been designed to support IPv6 since its inception. See product details. Customers can enable IPv6 by configuring the protocol on Cisco NX-OS software release. To read more details about the IPv6 feature set on the Nexus 7000 Family, please refer to the Cisco NX-OS documentation.
This document provides a brief overview of the various campus IPv6 deployment models and general deployment considerations, and provides the implementation details for each model.
DHCPv6-Based IPv6 Access Service
This paper discuss the basics of DHCPv6 and various implementation models to allow service providers to architect IPv6 access services using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6).
Cisco Virtual Office-Deploying DMVPN for IPv6
This white paper provides detailed design and implementation information relating to the deployment of Dynamic Multipoint Virtual Private Network (DMVPN) for IPv6 with Cisco Virtual Office.
IPv6 Extension Headers Review and Considerations
This document reviews the concepts of IPv6 Extension Header (EH). It focuses on the implications that the presence of extension headers have on the native IPv6 traffic forwarding performance of network devices
Cisco IPv6 solutions are part of a feature set that is supported on specific platforms and application packages. Before deploying IPv6, please refer to Cisco Feature Navigator to make sure that your environment meets all hardware and software prerequisites for deployment.
Cisco IOS Software is the world's leading network infrastructure software, delivering seamless integration of technology innovation, business-critical services, and hardware platform support. Currently operating on millions of active systems, ranging from small home office routers to the core systems of the world's largest service provider networks, Cisco IOS Software is the most widely used network infrastructure software in the world.
Cisco IOS Software releases deliver the most complete IPv6 feature set to the market. Cisco IOS Software developments focus on creating additional IPv6 features and innovations.
IPv6 Support for Cisco Switching & Routing Products
IPv6 Start Here
A detailed list of IPv6 features and minimum software releases is available from the IPv6 Start Here document.
The following sections are included in this document:
Cisco IOS Software Platform Dependencies and Restrictions
Cisco IOS IPv6 Features and Supported Software Releases
The Cisco MDS 9000 Family has been designed to support IPv6 since its inception, and no new hardware is required to support IPv6 on the existing platforms. Customers can enable IPv6 by upgrading their Cisco MDS 9000 Family products to SAN-OS version 3.x, which supports IPv6. Management is supported through the Cisco Fabric Manager.
Design Zone is a consolidated resource for design guides, application deployment guides, white papers, videos, and other technical reference materials.
Cisco Validated Designs consist of systems and solutions that are designed, tested, and documented to facilitate and improve customer deployments. These designs incorporate a wide range of technologies and products into a portfolio of solutions that have been developed to address the business needs of our customers.
