What is Involved in Converting an Office to IPv6

I work with a small office and they are looking at converting their network to use IPv6. They wish to use some of the new features found within the Windows 7 and Windows 2008 Server and in order to do so, they need to be running IPv6. To convert the systems over to use IPv6, I had to investigate a number of key components and technologies starting with the current network components, Server hardware Server OS, workstations hardware and software versions, and finally ISP provider capabilities.

IPv6 is a huge difference from IPv4 (the current Internet Protocol) that we are all very familiar with and use every day. They way in which an IP address is assigned in IPV6 is considerably different than in IPv4, and is suppose to be easier long term, however is provides some challenges right now until technology catches up to the new Protocol Version. Currently they are using IPv4 behind a NAT firewall. This means that the computers and servers are running on a private network address space behind their router, providing all computers and hardware the 192.168.1.X IP address range reserved for private networks. The router does NAT (Network Address Translation) and thus allows each computer/server behind the router access to the internet via the routers WAN IP address. The router has both an internal and external IP address, so when a user types in www.yahoo.com, the router sends that request to 206.190.60.37 yahoo.com's closest server farm. The web page information is sent back to the WAN IP address of the router (24.16.4.195) for example. The router then passes this web page info back to the internal IP address that asked for it in the first place (192.168.1.25), and the user is now looking at the web page for www.yahoo.com. All this takes place quickly and in the background.

IPv6 does not need to use a NAT, and in fact, the router just needs to redirect traffic to the computer that is connecting to the web site. The new IPv6 allocates enough IP addresses so there is no need to have to use NAT or private IP address. The new protocol does allow for private IP address ranges, but that would require a PROXY server and a number of items that this small office does not need. Therefore, this office will need a new router that will allow for IPv6. This will allow for one of the needs of the company going forward, the use of IPSEC that which is built into the new protocol. The current internal switch does not need to be replaced as the switch just moves packets of data and does not care if the protocol is IPv6 or IPv4.

Looking at the server and investigating the hardware a new network card is required to accommodate IPv6 IP addresses. The current built in Network adapter only allows for IPv4. However, this is a minimal expense as network cards that offer IPv6 technology are inexpensive. The current OS installed is Windows 2003 Server. The office wants to migrate to Windows Server 2008 as this OS offers some features that utilize the new IPv6 security features thus reducing other overhead such as other VPN solutions. The new OS will allow for file sharing across the Internet to be easier and more efficient.

I then began to investigate the workstations. They all need a memory upgrade in order to run Windows 7 Ultimate. A few dollars will be spent upgrading the memory as well as the OS. Nevertheless, they wish to use Bit locker and Direct Access on the laptops since most of the employees travel quite a bit. The Bit Locker application provides data protection in case the laptop is ever lost or stolen. Direct Access will reduce the overhead usually found via traditional VPN solutions and allow the end users to navigate the network as if they were in the office. Fortunately the current laptops have NIC cards that can be assigned an IPv6 IP address.

Finally, I had to find them a new ISP that offers IPv6 connectivity. Their current ISP only offer IPv4 technology and this will not allow the end users connect properly when they are traveling. Users that often work from home also need IPv6, and have to upgrade to a new ISP. One challenge when they travel is finding locations that will accommodate IPv6. One trick around this is to dual stack the server with both an IPv4 and an IPv6 IP address. Therefore, when the end user wants to connect they can use the IPv4 cloud, but the services will be talking to one another via IPv6 once connected.

So what might seem like a simple conversion to IPv6 in a small office requires a new router, a new ISP provider, OS upgrades, some extra memory to help with the overhead, and a little bit of work by the network technician (me) to get the server's OS upgraded and all the new features installed and configured. For users to connect from their homes in the best way requires them to have IPv6 services running at their homes, which will require a new router. Overall, there is some considerable time, monies, and effort to upgrade even a small office to the new protocol.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPv6#Stateless_address_autoconfiguration

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_network

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISP