IPv6 Resources from ISOC-AU

Activity 4. Infrastructure

Underpinning infrastructure elements were examined to ensure that the major activities of the IPv6 for e-Business project have a solid foundation. Utilising the IPv6-ready .au Domain Name Registry, these activities assessed the status of infrastructure planning and development, and the ability of Australian domain name service infrastructure to support essential Internet accessibility.

4.1 Underpinning Infrastructure

Click to see the document written especially for this project, Underpinning Infrastructure, which has now been recognised as a major contribution to examining issues currently affecting the acceptance, implementation and future steps in deploying IPv6, in the areas of:

Address Allocation
DNS Operations
Transition Support
E-Commerce
Security Keys

4.2 IPv6 Testbed Development

in collaboration with auDA and AusRegistry, the IPv6 for e-Business project examined IPv6 connectivity, infrastructure and deployment restrictions related to one of the most important of Internet accessibility functions - the Domain Name System.

The .au Domain Administration Ltd (auDA) is the policy authority and industry self-regulatory body for the .au domain space. It is responsible for domain name services within the .au namespace, which provide stable operation of the Internet in Australia.

AusRegistry Pty Ltd provides the IT infrastructure to manage auDA services for all current 'open' second-level Australian domain names: .com.au, .net.au, .id.au, .asn.au and .org.au, plus the government (.gov.au) and education domains (.edu.au).

During 2006 and 2007, auDA and AusRegistry enabled the registry to become capable of providing IPv6 services. Further work will be required to examine the useability and functionality of IPv6 in relation to the registry, given that IPv6 networks world-wide are currently 'islands of connectivity' within the IPv4 Internet.

4.3 DNS Infrastructure and IPv6 Testing

In order to test a variety of applications against the DNS infrastructure a set of instructions was provided to people and organisations with IPv6 connectivity. The test revolved around the ability to resolve an .au IPv6-enabled website via the AAAA records.

Respondents stated that they conducted the tests on multiple platforms using various web applications. The results were mixed, but overall the results and feedback were positive, with the majority being able to connect to the IPv6 site via IPv6 transit.


Request to Test IPv6 Name Resolution
=====================================
The IPv6 for e-Business Project (see  http://www.ipv6.org.au) is calling for volunteers to help with
testing the name resolution of an IPv6 website.  The www.ipv6.org.au site has the following IP addresses:

IPv4:   www.ipv6.org.au   A       203.42.34.45
IPv6:   www.ipv6.org.au   AAAA    2001:388:f000::7db

The Project committee is asking anyone with IPv6 connectivity (either native or via tunnels) to try to
resolve the IPv6-enabled website via the AAAA record supplied above, This simply means going to the
website, http://www.ipv6.org.au and see if you get the IPv4 or the IPv6 version.

Whether you are successful or not, please fill out the details below and email the results to Holly
Raiche, Executive Director of ISOC-AU, at ed@isoc-au.org.au, or ring 0412 688 544 to discuss.

Step 1
======

Before attempting to resolve the ipv6.org.au website please make sure you have IPv6 connectivity and
that your web browser supports IPv6 resolution (the latest versions should).

Then test you have IPv6 transit by using 'ping6':
* For Windows systems use "ping6 2001:388:f000::7db" from the windows command line (please also see
  http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/cg0305.mspx )

* For Unix/Linux flavors use "ping6 2001:388:f000::7db" from the command line (please also see
  http://www.linux.com/howtos/Linux+IPv6-HOWTO/x830.shtml#PROGRAM-PING6 )

* For Macs it is possible to use the Unix/Linux command (above) or you may use the Network Utility.app
  located in the Application/Utilities folder, which has a ping GUI.

Step 2
======
If you are sure you have IPv6 connectivity, then in your browser go to the website,
http://www.ipv6.org.au and see if the IPv4 version or the IPv6 version appears (they have a
different welcome message).

IF only the IPv4 version appears, try to see if you can reach the IPv6 one by going to
http://[2001:388:f000::7db] (with [ ] as shown).

Step 3
=======
WHATEVER happens, please tell us:
1) Your Operating System: e.g. Windows (XP, Vista), Unix (flavour), Linux (flavour), Mac (OS version), etc.
2) Your Web Browser and its version number: e.g. Internet Explorer (6 or 7), Firefox (1 or 2), the
Mozilla suite (includes Safari, Konqueror,
    Gecko, Netscape), Opera, etc.
3) Were you able to ping the IPv6 address?
4) Could you reach the IPv6 website by using the domain name?
5) Could you reach the IPv6 website by using the IP address?
6) Did you have any problems with your connection, delays in resolving, or the website, etc?
7) Other comments you may wish to add?

Thank you very much for your help!
The IPv6 for e-Business Project

4.4 IETF Standards Documents Relating to Underpinning Infrastructure

Before IPv6 can be widely deployed to reach its full potential, it must be widely understood and accepted as an important step forward for the Internet. The Internet Engineering Task Force created and defined all of the standards for IPv6 since work on the next-generation version began in the early/mid-1990s. Some issues have been easily resolved, but as more experience is gained with IPv6-enabled systems and networks, some areas require re-examination and further discussion. Below are the IETF standards documents relating to some current issues in IPv6.

IPv6 and the Domain Name System

Num	Information
4472	Operational Considerations and Issues with IPv6 DNS A. Durand, J. Ihren, P. Savola [April 2006]
4339	IPv6 Host Configuration of DNS Server Information Approaches J. Jeong, Ed. [February 2006]
4074	Common Misbehavior Against DNS Queries for IPv6 Addresses Y. Morishita, T. Jinmei [May 2005]
3901	DNS IPv6 Transport Operational Guidelines A. Durand, J. Ihren [September 2004] (Also BCP91)
3646	DNS Configuration options for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for IPv6 (DHCPv6) R. Droms, Ed. [December 2003]
3364	Tradeoffs in Domain Name System (DNS) Support for Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) R. Austein [August 2002] (Updates RFC2673, RFC2874)
3363	Representing Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) Addresses in the Domain Name System (DNS) R. Bush, A. Durand, B. Fink, O. Gudmundsson, T. Hain [August 2002] (Updates RFC2673, RFC2874)
3226	DNSSEC and IPv6 A6 aware server/resolver message size requirements O. Gudmundsson [December 2001] (Updates RFC2535, RFC2874)(Updated by RFC4033, RFC4034, RFC4035)
2874	DNS Extensions to Support IPv6 Address Aggregation and Renumbering M. Crawford, C. Huitema [July 2000] (Updated by RFC3152, RFC3226, RFC3363, RFC3364)

IPv6 and Multihoming

Num	Information
4219	Things Multihoming in IPv6 (MULTI6) Developers Should Think About E. Lear [October 2005]
4218	Threats Relating to IPv6 Multihoming Solutions E. Nordmark, T. Li [October 2005]
4177	Architectural Approaches to Multi-homing for IPv6 G. Huston [September 2005]
3582	Goals for IPv6 Site-Multihoming Architectures J. Abley, B. Black, V. Gill [August 2003]
3178	IPv6 Multihoming Support at Site Exit Routers J. Hagino, H. Snyder [October 2001]

Dr Kate Lance
Internet Society of Australia

The IPv6 for e-Business project is supported by the Australian Government through the Information Technology Online (ITOL) Program of the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.