Early tech providers didn’t think we’d run short of IPv4's 4.3 billion addresses. But here we are!
Of course, IPv4 was then followed by IPv6. Guess what? It wasn’t made backwards compatible!
That’s exactly why you’re facing compatibility issues today. If your organization is one of those considering IP move, you must be aware of the complexity involved with protocol coexistence.
It is difficult but not impossible. In fact, there are some bridging solutions that can work for your company. However, before you opt for any one of these solutions, go for a thorough Ipv6-to-IPv4 and back interoperability test.
Protocol co-existence can take any of the following three forms:
1. Dual stack
This is a method through which your network hardware runs both IPv4 and
IPv6 simultaneously. While both protocols will be activated on all your systems, IPv6 will be the preferred one.
Easiest way to start this is by enabling the
TCP/IP stacks for the two protocols over the core wide area network (WAN) routers. Follow it up by enabling these protocols on perimeter routers, firewalls, data-center routers and desktop access routers, one after another.
Upside of
dual-IP stacks is that it is supported by most operating systems as well as network vendors. Downside is that some versions of internet applications don’t work with IPv6.
2. Tunnel
Tunneling means one protocol is carried inside the other. Most often, it’s IPv6 that is tunneled in IPv4. It can move IPv6 packets to your internal IPv4 WAN and the IPv4 Internet.
Later on, when your organization is ready to complete the move, you can use IPv6 tunnels to carry the other’s traffic.
There are two types of tunnels you can choose from:
Manual/static tunnels: This type of tunneling necessitates configuration on both ends of the tunnel. It is a good approach for connecting corporate IPv6 intranets.
Dynamic tunnels: It uses various techniques to set up packet destination address and routing. They are far easier to create, maintain and work with.
3. Network Address Translation
This isn’t a universally applicable method, so you should understand the application of each area.
A huge difference between existing
IPv4 NAT and NAT-PT is that it requires address translations for incoming and outgoing traffic. It can get complicated in no time.
You may want to use bi-directional mapping but it can get outdated quickly. Plus, scaling issues are always there.
You may also opt for Domain Name System (DNS), but older servers will not support your IPv6’s AAAA records. Problems with scaling exist here too.
If you have excess
IPv4 address blocks, why not consider selling or leasing them? You can
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