IPv6 Deployment in Academic Networks

1. IPv6 Deploymentin Academic Networks Tim Chown University of Southampton, UK tjc@ecs.soton.ac.uk UK IPv6 Task Force seminars, 16 Jan 2003

2. Academic networking • Network availability is no longer just a “nicety” • Networks are mission critical • And so is the IP protocol that underpins them. • Academic networks are and can be used for • Commercial university operation • Research projects • Wireless campuses • Remote learning • Collaborative working • Distributed computing (the Grid and E-Science)

3. The UK academic network • Provides connectivity for • Over 200 universities • Over 400 further education colleges • The network is called JANET • The current instance is SuperJANET4 • The “ISP” maintaining it is UKERNA • Provides additional services • e.g. Premium IP, IPv4 Multicast, H.323 conferencing • Can (within limits) deploy new services without a direct or immediate commercial benefit

4. UK academic (JANET) pilots • Trials and pilots on JANET • Phase 1 • Bermuda project, ATM PVCs, 1999-2000 • Phase 2 • SuperJANET4 removed ATM in favour of PoS networks • Tunnels to single pilot router, IPv6 over IPv4, 2001-2002 • Phase 3 • Dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 on the JANET core network, 2003 • To commit, we need performance and reliability • Mustn’t adversely affect the IPv4 service • Must co-exist with IPv4 Multicast and IPv4 QoS.

5. Bermuda • A 12-month project run between three UK universities • Southampton, UCL and Lancaster • Tested IPv6 connectivity between ATM routers • IPv6 run over ATM PVCs, at 2Mbit/s • Static routing • Basic services run for validation: • DNS (BIND 9) • Web (Apache server, Mozilla client) • Email (Sendmail 8.10.x) • Produced five reports • Available still at www.ipv6.ac.uk

7. Dual-stack strategy • NRENs need an IPv6 transition strategy • Need to be able to carry IPv6 on their infrastructure, and offer IPv6 services • Can run IPv4 and IPv6 on the same router equipment, and run both protocols over the same links, natively • Requires vendor implementation to have fast (hardware-based) IPv6 forwarding, and to support the required IPv6 routing protocols (BGP4+)

8. Dual-stack deployments • The US research network, Abilene, has migrated to dual-stack, running both protocols • Initially using Cisco, now using Juniper routers • Running at up to 10Gbit/s • IPv6 forwarding tested to over 8Gbit/s • European National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) are following: • SURFnet (Netherlands), Renater (France), Funet (Finland) have all migrated already.

9. GÉANT and 6NET • All the European NRENs are interconnected by GÉANT, offering a production IPv4 network service • Up to 10Gbit/s links, using Juniper routers • Planning to introduce dual-stack networking by mid-2003, following Abilene’s lead • Many NRENs planning in sync with GÉANT • GÉANT set new IPv6 Land Speed Record • 15 NRENs are members of the 6NET project • Has deployed a native IPv6-only network • Funded in part by the European Commission

10. The project • Deployed a pan-European IPv6 research network • Backbone in place since May 2002 at STM-1 rates • Project runs until December 2004 • 1,100 man months between 35 partner organisations • Many study areas beyond the basic network rollout: • Transition tools, MIPv6, DNS, QoS, address allocation policies, IPv6 multicast, IPsec, VPNs, multihoming, application porting, VoIP, Globus/GRID toolkit, multimedia tools, network management and monitoring,… • Desire to interconnect to international networks to further research goals through collaboration

13. 6NET staging

14. IPv6 address space • In Europe, IPv6 address space is allocated by the RIPE NCC • Most (all?) NRENs have a production IPv6 network address allocation (SubTLA) • The prefix is a /32, e.g. JANET is 2001:0630::/32 • Each university site would receive a /48 prefix • Thus an NREN can address 2^16 universities • A site /48 prefix allows 2^16 site subnets to be allocated, with up to 2^64 (!) hosts per subnet • Address allocation policies will be important

15. Allocations of SubTLAs

16. International IPv6 routing • Key international academic networks are now working together to get predictable, reliable international IPv6 networking. • Abilene • 6NET • Some NRENs (the Dutch, Finns, French) • Euro6IX (an ISP-oriented research network akin to 6NET) • WIDE (Japan) • Using dual-stack (native) transatlantic links • From Sweden, Netherlands • Phasing out long-haul IPv6-in-IPv4 tunnels

17. Vendor support • Hosts • *BSD, Linux, Windows 2000, XP, .NET, CE .NET, Solaris 8 and Solaris 9, Mac OS X (Jaguar), HP/UX (and Tru64 from Compaq), IBM AIX, Irix, … • Routers: • Cisco (IOS), Juniper (JUNOS), Hitachi, 6WIND, *BSD, Zebra (open source), ZebOS (by ipinfusion), Nortel Networks, MRTd, …

18. Wireless campus deployment • Growing numbers of students own laptops • PDA devices have Wireless LAN adaptors • Opportunity to deliver WLAN in campuses • Easy access to information • New channels to deliver material, location-aware • Ability to chat, or receive notifications • Mobile IPv6 enables campus-wide roaming • Much improved features over Mobile IPv4

19. Access into student homes • Many student homes now have ADSL • And many of those homes have Wireless LAN • Many student halls have Ethernet • Can consider broadband applications • Conferencing between tutor and student • Delivery of multimedia data • File sharing • IPv4 home networking invariably uses NAT • Makes it hard to run applications into the home • IPv6 enables remote access for many applications

20. IPv6 Applications • By deploying IPv6 we hope to promote • Peer-to-Peer (p2p) applications • Transparent end-to-end connectivity (no NAT, middleboxes) • New Grid and distributed computing functionality • New mobile features • Device to device communication • New classes of devices, e.g. remote sensor networks • There is no killer IPv6 application (yet…) • But the Web came many years after IPv4 was deployed

21. What will 2003 bring? • GÉANT migration to dual-stack like Abilene • More NRENs also migrating • More vendor support • More features, better performance • Some IPv6 deployment in Wireless LANs • Stability in international IPv6 routing • Clearer transition scenarios from the IETF • Various phones with IPv6 embedded (for 3G) • New IPv6-enabled applications emerging • e.g. The Globus Toolkit for Grid

22. The end users… • The key is to bring the universities online • Transition strategies and cookbooks • Need carrots to attract large volumes of users • NRENs are making national networks IPv6-enabled • No mandate for universities to deploy • Early interest, like IPv4, will be in the CS departments • Show working examples • Site case studies, including DNS, email, www services… • Need to identify and tackle “missing pieces” for IPv6 academic deployment – underway in 6NET.

23. Sites to visit • UK IPv6 Task Force • http://www.uk.ipv6tf.org/ • 6NET • http://www.6net.org/ • http://www.6net.org/publications/ • IPv6 in UK academic sites • http://www.ipv6.ac.uk/

24. Backup slides (not used on the night)

25. The IETF IPv6-related WGs • Has many IPv6-related working groups • IPv6 WG (was IPng) • V6 Ops WG (was ngtrans) • Mobile IP (for Mobile IPv6) • DHC WG (for DHCPv6) • DNSEXT (for IPv6 DNS) • … • Core standards have been available for 2-3 years • MIPv6 and DHCPv6 now finalising to RFC status • The IETF is now pushing IPv6 into all WGs

26. The m6bone • IPv6 Multicast protocols are being developed and implemented • Problem in deployment is similar to IPv4 • Need IPv6 Multicast support in routers • Otherwise need to tunnel IPv6 Multicast in regular (unicast) IPv6 or IPv4 links • First international testbed is the m6bone • Centred on a router operated by Renater in Paris • http://www.m6bone.net

27. M6bone, December 2002