Introduction to IPv6

Migrating to IPv6

IPv6 Propagation

IPv6 is currently in the early stages of deployment worldwide, involving a phased-in migration led by the application of basic IPv6 functionality. In these applications, IPv6 traffic is switched among IPv6-capable devices on a given LAN, and routed between LANs using IPv6-capable routers. Using the IPv6 features in this software release, the switch can operate in an IPv6 network, be managed using an IPv6 management station, and interact with DHCPv6 and IPv6-enabled DNS servers in the same network or accessible through a connection to an IPv6 router.

 

Dual-Stack Operation

 

Since most initial IPv6 deployments are in networks having a mixture of IPv6

 

and IPv4 hosts software release K.13.01 supports dual- stack IPv4/IPv6 oper­

 

ation. This enables the switch to communicate individually with IPv4 and IPv6

 

devices with their respective protocols. Thus, IPv4 and IPv6 traffic is

 

supported simultaneously on the same VLAN interface. This means that both

 

IPv4 and IPv6 devices can operate at the same time on a given VLAN.

 

 

N o t e

Software release K.13.01 does not include gateways for translation between

 

IPv6 and IPv4 traffic. While IPv4 and IPv6 traffic coexists on the same VLAN,

 

the individual IPv4 and IPv6 devices ignore each other's traffic.

 

To forward IPv6 traffic from the switch to an IPv6-capable device on a different

 

VLAN, a link to an external IPv6-capable router is needed. Also, IPv6 traffic

 

movement from the switch over IPv4 paths requires routers capable of IPv6

 

over IPv4 tunneling.

 

 

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