ProCurve and IPv6: Moving toward the future

The Internet is evolving rapidly toward the use of mobile devices that must communicate transparently. As a result, the need for more IP addresses has grown exponentially. Though the current Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) has served the needs of the enterprises, public organizations and consumers well for years, soon there won’t be enough addresses to meet demand. That led a new protocol version, IPv6, which provides a much larger address space.

For enterprises, increasing the number of IP addresses eliminates the need for address translation technologies such as NAT. As a result, users can have more transparent and consistent experiences with Internet applications. IT departments also benefit from having a more simplified and streamlined network configuration. With better support for auto-configuration, mobility and multimedia applications, IPv6 also can reduce the costs of deploying and supporting these applications.

However, because upgrading from v4 to v6 can require significant infrastructure investment, enterprises will be implementing IPv6 slowly – and initially only in parts of their networks. End-to-end IPv6 support in both public and private networks will take some time. ProCurve is beginning to implement IPv6 with the latest software update for the highly-available Switch 8212zl (core switch), Switch 6200yl, Switch 5400zl/3500yl series, and the Switch 2900 series.

Theses switches have been certified with IPv6 Ready Logo Phase 2 from IPv6 Forum, a worldwide IPv6 advocacy consortium. The IPv6 Ready Logo Program provides conformance and interoperability based on open standard to support IPv6 deployment across the globe.

In this initial implementation, IPv6 host, MLD multicast snooping and dual stack (IPv4/IPv6) are available. These features allow the switches to be deployed at the edge of an IPv6 network. The Switch 8212zl, 6200yl, and 5400zl/3500y series are based on the highly-intelligent Provision ASIC, which can support other features such as IPv6 routing once they are enabled via future software updates.

For more details on IPv6 technology and ProCurve, please see the resources on the right.

ProCurve IPv6 Resources: