Multi-national IPv6 strategy
Providing a strategy for the adoption of IPv6
The challenge...
Our Client is one of the largest mobile providers globally. We were engaged to produce a strategy and architecture for the deployment of IPv6 into its UK infrastructure.
The main objectives of this project were to:
- Produce a strategy for the deployment of IPv6 to follow best practice in the industry;
- Produce an architecture that efficiently utilised the IPv6 GUA (Global Unique Allocation) from RIPE, whilst at the same time considering the possible requirements for stateless auto-configuration;
- Evaluate and recommend best fit IGP to serve as routing protocol for IPv6;
- Evaluate and recommend migration methods, to enable IPv6 onto the existing IPv4 domains;
- Address possible security defects and weaknesses in the IPv6 protocol, its extensions headers, and neighbour discovery mechanisms;
- Validate the multi-vendor environment to ensure all devices were IPv6 compliant, and able to support specific IPv6 features;
- Develop and deliver bespoke IPv6 training to the clients design and support community.
The Solution...
Like most operators, the mobile provider was engaging on a rollout of IPv6 across all of its worldwide operating subsidiaries. CACI was engaged to provide a strategy for the adoption of IPv6 into all of its UK network domains, this included the mobile core environment, data centres, and internal corporate network. The network domains were complex multi-vendor environments, which required careful consideration for the adoption of IPv6. The strategy was approached in the following steps:
- Capture the ‘readiness’ of the network nodes and appliances within each individual network domain to support IPv6;
- Recommend an implementation strategy following current best practices and considering the new security implications that IPv6 brings;
- Recommend an addressing plan to maximise prefix aggregation in order to minimise routing table size;
- Recommend next steps to progress towards a seamless migration.
We delivered:
- Strategy and architecture documentation that prescribed the methodology by which a scalable IPv6 deployment to all the UK network domains could realised;
- A detailed migration architecture was produced to aid the introduction of IPv6 into the providers customer and internal network domains.
- This solution included the usage of the 6VPE technology to facilitate the transport of IPv6 VPNs across the providers existing IPv4/MPLS core, thereby simplifying and removing the requirement to migrate the core network infrastructure to IPv6. Â In addition to linking towards the providers international backbone network, 6VPE with an option B interconnect was recommended to facilitate interconnectivity requirements or IPv6 VPNs that spanned globally across discrete VPN domains.
Results and benefits...
- We delivered an overall IPv6 strategy for the client that catered for their business expansion plans and which could be utilised in all UK domain environments, whilst seamlessly aligning with the providers global architecture and prefix aggregation requirements;
- Migration strategy delivered to simplify the adoption of IPv6 into the providers customer and internal network domains;
- Strategy and architecture delivered in time for client purchasing decisions.
