IPv6 Network Administration

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 306 pages
• Published by: O'Reilly Media, Inc. March 2, 2005
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0596009348
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0596009342
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1 inches
• Weighs: 1 pounds

Product Description
What once seemed nearly impossible has turned into reality. The number of available Internet addresses is now nearly exhausted, due mostly to the explosion of commercial websites and entries from an expanding number of countries. This growing shortage has effectively put the Internet community--and some of its most brilliant engineers--on alert for the last decade. Their solution was to create IPv6, a new Internet standard which will ultimately replace the current and antiquated IPv4. As the new backbone of the Internet, this new protocol would fix the most difficult problems that the Internet faces today--scalability and management. And even though IPv6's implementation has met with some resistance over the past few years, all signs are now pointing to its gradual worldwide adoption in the very near future. Sooner or later, all network administrators will need to understand IPv6, and now is a good time to get started. IPv6 Network Administration offers administrators the complete inside info on IPv6. This book reveals the many benefits as well as the potential downsides of this next-generation protocol. It also shows readers exactly how to set up and administer an IPv6 network. A must-have for network administrators everywhere, IPv6 Network Administration delivers an even-handed approach to what will be the most fundamental change to the Internet since its inception. Some of the other IPv6 assets that are covered include:

• routing
• integrated auto-configuration
• quality-of-services (QoS)
• enhanced mobility
• end-to-end security

IPv6 Network Administration explains what works, what doesn't, and most of all, what's practical when considering upgrading networks from the current protocol to IPv6.

Reader Reviews
IPv6 Network Administration is an absolutely first-rate technical guide. It is refreshing to read a book that doesn't waste time by assuming the reader has no networking background. IPv6 Network Administration achieves just the right balance between history, theory, and practical application to serve the needs of administrators and interested readers. If you've been waiting for the right resource from which to learn IPv6, this book is it. The preface, a less than useful part of many books, offers an interesting history of IPv6 development. Rather than assume IPv4 is worthless, ch 1 and 2 debate IPv4's merits; ch 1 is anti-IPv4 and ch 2 is pro-IPv4. In ch 3 we learn IPv6 details, and here the authors' writing style and judgement shines. They avoid describing every detail of IPv6, and instead summarize or present just the important parts of the protocol. This technique could have earned the book the title "Practical IPv6". Another smart choice made by the authors involves relating IPv6 concepts in IPv4 terms, where possible and appropriate. For example, ch 3 shows how neighbor solicitation fulfills a role similar to ARP. It will be many years before any student of networking will have to ignore learning IPv4, so I appreciate authors who speak in familiar terms. Beginning in ch 5 and elsewhere, the authors make a third excellent decision. Rather than just present a Linux command reference and a Windows command reference, they present syntax for many operating systems and networking devices. This must have taken a decent amount of research, but such level of detail makes the work accessible to a wide audience. I found the use of FreeBSD in repeated examples to be particularly appealing. The authors are not shy about saying what works and what doesn't when IPv6 is involved. In ch 7 they present some novel ways to work around certain issues, e.g., using netcat6 for port forwarding IPv6 traffic. They even show programming examples and outline new aspects of the sockets API to handle IPv6 addressing in ch 8. Finally, IPv6 Network Administration presents workable ways for admins to give IPv6 a try, such as 6to4 and other tunnel methods. Almost anyone with a public IP address should be able to experiment with IPv6 thanks to the book's directions. Given that I operate multiple IPv6-capable systems in my lab, I was able to test some of the book's commands using link-local addressing (described in the text). In brief, this is a must-have book for all network administrators. Even if you never intend to deploy IPv6, you should understand it as a professional technician. As a personal observation, I see many opportunities for intruders to exploit misconfigurations, poor coding, and various complexities in IPv6 (such as the huge variety of addresses assigned to single machines). IPv6 Network Administration will help get an IPv6 network running, at least to the point where administrators can begin becoming familiar with this new network protocol.