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| Microsoft IPv6 Strategy
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is designed to solve many of the problems encountered on today's networks. Although the most obvious difference between IPv6 and Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) is the sheer number of addresses that IPv6 provides; the most important difference lies in what you can do with these addresses, not the number of addresses itself. By designing in critical capabilities such as hierarchical addressing structure, security, and mobility, IPv6 will support new classes of computing and communication paradigms that are difficult to deliver on the existing IPv4 infrastructure. Due to the deployment of Network Address Translators (NATs), end-to-end network connectivity is broken, and networked devices cannot be located by legitimate applications and services. Many applications that utilize peer-to-peer connections cannot work well today. Examples include voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), video and secure collaborations, all of which have varying degrees of difficulty with working well in a NAT'ed network. IPv6 removes these obstacles, and enables applications and services to be easily developed and deployed. IPv6 will make applications "just work" without awkward network configurations, management tasks, or server deployments. Breaking the Infrastructure/Application Mutual Dependency Unfortunately, the computing and communications industries as a whole have not fully embraced and deployed IPv6 yet. Most people have the misguided view that networks must be upgraded to support native IPv6 routing before any IPv6 traffic can be delivered. Network architects do not want to deploy native IPv6 routing until applications use IPv6 and software developers do not want to migrate applications to IPv6 until there is a native IPv6 infrastructure. This creates a stagnant circular dependency between network infrastructure and application availability. It is important to understand and communicate that this mutual dependency between network upgrade and application development does NOT exist for IPv6, and that it's time to move forward on both fronts as quickly as possible. The key to moving applications to be IPv6-capable lies in IPv6 transition technologies, which allow IPv6 traffic to be encapsulated and sent over existing IPv4 networks such as the Internet and private intranets. The dominant IPv6 transition technologies used to support moving applications to IPv6 are the following:
Most equipment manufacturers support IPv6 transition technologies in their products. Internet service providers (including Microsoft) have deployed 6to4 relays and Teredo servers and relays on the Internet. Deploying IPv6 transition technologies is an inexpensive and fast way for network administrators to gain operating experience with IPv6 while causing minimal disturbance to the existing network. IPv6 transition technologies allow software developers the ability to create and test IPv6-capable applications without requiring a native IPv6 routing infrastructure. Current deployments can more than adequately support developer efforts to migrate and deploy IPv6-capable applications. As more applications take advantage of IPv6 capabilities, network operators will need to expand IPv6 support and provide native IPv6 connectivity. Most people predict that IPv6 will be deployed at the edge of the network and gradually migrate inward toward the core. The combination of deploying IPv6 transition technologies and migrating applications to be IPv6-capable is the key to getting started. This can be easily and cheaply done today. Migrating to an IPv6 infrastructure is a manageable, cost-effective, and gradual process when the organization makes well-defined, practical, and achievable plans. Let the network traffic drive your upgrade schedule. Overview of Microsoft's Current IPv6 Capabilities In 2000, Microsoft released an IPv6 Technology Preview for Windows™ 2000 to provide developers with initial experience working with the new protocol. Production-quality support for the IPv6 protocol stack is provided in Windows™ XP Service Pack 2, which includes support for the key IPv6 transition technologies previously described and an IPv6 host-based firewall (Windows Firewall). For equivalent functionality for computers running Windows XP with Service Pack 1, you must download and install the Advanced Networking Pack for Windows XP. Windows™ Server 2003, released in March 2003, supports a production-quality IPv6 protocol stack, plus IPv6 support for some advanced networking services such as Domain Name System (DNS). Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 includes Windows Firewall. Other IPv6-capable platforms include Windows CE, Windows XP Embedded, SmartPhone, and others. Microsoft offers a rich information repository about IPv6, IPv6 transition technologies, and product offerings at www.microsoft.com/ipv6. Microsoft currently is conducting Technology Previews for Mobile IPv6 and Teredo Server Relay. Partners and customers are encouraged to participate in these programs. Microsoft actively participates in the global IPv6 community by sponsoring events for the IPv6 Summit and attending international events in Asia (Japan, China, and India). Microsoft's involvement in the European community is highlighted by the Microsoft Research facilities for IPv6 located in Cambridge, U.K. Microsoft regularly participates in interoperability testing throughout the world, including the IPv6 Ready Logo program. Future Development Direction Microsoft plans to continue to deliver significant enhancements to IPv6 in the future releases of its products. The next release of the Windows operating system, codenamed "Longhorn," will natively support IPv6. A single protocol stack containing both IPv4 and IPv6 will replace the current dual-IP stack architecture. IPv6 will be installed and enabled by default, and will be the preferred Internet layer transport. The entire suite of networking services including DNS, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), and Internet Protocol security (IPsec) will be IPv6-capable. Longhorn is a movement that will spark a new wave of innovation for the entire industry. It is the most secure, highest quality release of Windows ever, and offers breakthrough capabilities for supporting communications, connectivity, mobility, management, and entertainment scenarios. Additionally, Microsoft is working on delivering IPv6 support in its
enterprise applications and services along with Longhorn. Products such
as SQL Server, Microsoft Office, and others will have IPv6 support in
the Longhorn time frame. Recommendations Today, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Windows XP with Service Pack 1, and Windows XP with Service Pack 2 offer robust support for the IPv6 protocol, IPv6 transition technologies, and IPv6 support in some networking services. Additionally, Microsoft offers platforms for developers to port their applications to IPv6 through the .NET Framework management code and other programming platforms. Microsoft recommends that software developers begin taking advantage of IPv6 today by making their applications IPv6-capable. This will enrich the applications with global reach ability over IPv6, utilize network address translator (NAT) traversal with Teredo, and make use of capabilities offered by new APIs such as the Microsoft Peer-to-Peer Software Development Kit (SDK). Developers must consider their product strategy 2-3 years in advance, and IPv6 will have a much wider reach in that time frame. Developers need to start transitioning their applications now. Microsoft recommends that service providers deploy 6to4 relays and Teredo servers and relays to further enhance IPv6 transition technologies for their customers. Operators also need to conduct native IPv6 pilots and gain experience with new services and support issues. All new product purchases need to require IPv6 in order to future-proof the new investments and minimize the overall cost of future network upgrades. Microsoft recommends that network administrators interested in learning
IPv6 deploy ISATAP on their IPv4 networks as a first step. Learning how
to manage a new network will take time, so starting out early, conservatively,
and transparently to users is the most logical approach. Organizations
should also future-proof their investments now by requesting IPv6 capabilities
in new product purchases and services. These capabilities might remain
dormant in a network in the beginning, but this policy ensures a cost-effective
way to acquire IPv6 capability while minimizing expenses. Gradually, as
the network traffic sent over native IPv6 increases either internally
or externally, you can move your network to support native rather than
IPv4-encapsulated IPv6 traffic. Let your network traffic and application
benefits drive your network upgrade schedule toward IPv6. |
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