IPv6: An Introduction and Overview

by John J. Amoss and Daniel Minoli

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The Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is gaining momentum as an improved network layer protocol. There is much commercial interest and activity in Europe and Asia, and as of press time, there also was some traction in the United States. For example, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced that from October 1, 2003, all new developments and procurements needed to be IPv6-capable; the DoD's goal was to complete the transition to IPv6 for all intra- and internetworking across the agency by 2008. In 2005, the U.S. General Accountability Office (GAO) recommended that all agencies become proactive in planning a coherent transition to IPv6. The expectation is that in the next few years a transition to this new protocol will occur worldwide.

IPv6 is the next-generation Internet Protocol. The current version of the Internet Protocol, IPv4, has been in use for almost 30 years and exhibits some challenges in supporting emerging demands for address space cardinality, high-density mobility, multimedia, and strong security. This is particularly true in developing domestic and defense department applications utilizing peer-to-peer networking. IPv6 is an improved version of the Internet Protocol that is designed to coexist with IPv4 and eventually provide better internetworking capabilities than IPv4. (Click here to continue.)

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