The use of RIPng

[Benedikt Stockebrand]

Hi Mark and list,

Mark Tinka <mtinka at globaltransit.net> writes:

> On Friday 04 June 2010 11:47:14 pm Benedikt Stockebrand 
> wrote:
>
>> So do I.  And with OSPFv3/IPv6 you have to do so anyway.
>
> No, you don't.

sorry, should have written with OSPFv3/IPv6-*only*.  Thought it was
obvious from the context.

> The highest IPv4 (Loopback) address on the router will be 
> used as the Router ID. Leaving it non-deterministic may be 
> risky, but valid.

This is a rather risky approach indeed: Eventually you disable IPv4
entirely on a machine and all of a sudden your IPv6 routing fails.

Setting up these kinds of hidden dependencies sometimes helps on a
short term basis but tends to cause significant trouble in the future.

>> At least here in Germany those ISPs and hosting providers
>>  that offer IPv6 tend to offer IPv6 on a "no guarantees"
>>  basis only, giving both their customers and themselves a
>>  chance to get their hands dirty.
>
> In our case, we don't offer IPv4 access to the Internet 
> "guaranteed" anyway.

I didn't write "guaranteed Internet access".

There are things like fine print in standard contracts ("Allgemeine
Geschäftsbedingungen" in German), or individually negotiated SLAs
(service level agreements), or similar legal agreements, that cover
various details, including various aspects of network connectivity.
And in these, IPv4 and IPv6 tend to be treated rather differently.

> We guarantee that it will work in as far as forwarding it through
> our network is concerned (which is easy to guarantee), but not after
> it leaves our network.

At least here in Germany you frequently find statements there
concerning "redundant (upstream) Internet connectivity" (not a legally
exact translation, IANAL) in SLAs or standard fine print.

That may not apply to you, though.

> This is well-understood across the community.

Stop treating me like an idiot.

> In that respect, IPv6 is not different, for us.

If you have 

  - the same upstream connectivity

  - the same level of experience and skills through your entire
    operations team

  - the same levels of reliability and functionality with regard to
    your equipment

with both IPv4 and IPv6, then IPv6 may be no different than IPv4.  But
these are assumptions that don't generally apply.  As a consequence it
is only prudent for ISPs or hosters to distinguish between IPv4 and
IPv6 in whatever contracts and SLAs they sign.


Cheers,

    Benedikt

-- 
			 Business Grade IPv6
		    Consulting, Training, Projects

Benedikt Stockebrand, Dipl.-Inform.   http://www.benedikt-stockebrand.de/