For many network managers around the world, IPv6 is no longer a topic for the future, no longer something talked about for years without any change in the real world.
For many, IPv6 is a live reality now, or implementation is firmly on the current agenda: they have to start dealing with it in detail in their network planning if they haven’t already.
The move to IPv6 has big implications for your network design.
Because they are critical foundations for any network, DDI services should be one of the first things network managers prepare for IPv6 transition.
With IPv6, DDI moves from headache to nightmare
If you are one of these many, you probably already know about the issues and headaches in supporting DDI in IPv6.
For practical purposes, IPv6 addresses are not human readable or memorable. They have the form : x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x, where each ‘x’ is a value that can be between 0 and 4 hexadecimal digits long. For example: 2620:0:2ef0:7040:250:60ff:fe03:32b9
After this, the list of issues is a long one:
- The format and length of IPv6 addresses differs from one address to another. This complexity of the syntax will make it impossible to handle managing IP address space using a simple spreadsheet – it will simply not work
- IPv6 address boundaries are much more difficult to manage
- DHCPv6 and stateless address autoconfiguration may be active at the same time, resulting in hosts obtaining two addresses, three if privacy extensions are used
- You will struggle to represent your IPv6 network in business logic
- Most networks move to IPv6 in stages, starting with a dual stack (IPv4 and IPv6) structure.
- So every device in your network will have at least two IP addresses – IPv4 and IPv6.
- For this you will need two separate DHCP servers – DHCPv4 and DHCPv6
DDI management solutions make it possible
The extra complexity for DDI of moving to IPv6 can be scary. DDI applications equipped to manage IPv6 and dual-stacked IPv4/IPv6 environments ease the transition and make the administration of large, complex IP spaces easier, saving your time and money.
Some would argue they don’t simply make it easier: successful IPv6 implementations – whether with dual-stack or all-IPv6 networks – simply cannot be done without an IPv6-ready DDI management solution. Whereas with one, you can:
- Increase available IP space
- Get a fresh start in planning your IP addresses or re-organising network infrastructure
- Integrate IPv6 subnets into existing IP address pools for a fluid migration of data, ensuring risk free IPv4 / IPv6 coexistence
- Track IPv6 and dual-stack hosts through DNS
- Simplify allocation of static and dynamic IPv6 addresses, subnets and client settings
- Discover IPv6 addresses in use
- Automate complex administrative tasks related to IPv6, DNS and DHCPv6 eliminating risks of misconfiguration and ensuring consistency
- Enable administrators to create, split and join IPv6 networks
- Streamline and improve the packet delivery process over IPv4
- Enhance service-level for the end-users
- Improve levels of information security
- Map your business logic to IPv6 infrastructure
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