Interview with Patrick Grossetete, IPv6 Product Manager for Cisco Systems IOS Technologies segment

Introduction

IPv6, the IETF-designed protocol dubbed the 'next generation' of IP, is designed to replace the current version, IPv4, which - it is said - is beginning to show its age. This much we all know. The principal charge, of course, is that there is a growing shortage of IPv4 addresses, which, in this (admittedly ridiculous) era of web-connected refrigerators, must be urgently rectified.

But while the impetus behind the move to IPv6 centres on attempts to resolve the issue of a limited number of available IPv4 addresses, IPv6 is said also to add many improvements in areas such as network auto-configuration and mobility.

Much of the vaunted improvement over IPv4 is attributable to the simple fact that IPv6 offers a virtually infinite number of Internet addresses - from approximately 200 million assignable IPv4 addresses to, it is claimed, countless trillions. At the same time, the policy of the Registries (RIPE-NCC, ARIN, APNIC, LACNIC) of allocating prefixes and enabling a hierarchy of routes facilitated by IPv6, is also seen as a significant benefit compared with the previous incarnation.

And big business, it seems, is also behind the initiative. Sony for one has mandated that all its products be IPv6-enabled by 2005. In addition, with some, surely somewhat hopeful research* suggesting that the average home contains 250 devices (toasters, electric toothbrushes, vibrators?) that could at some future time be connected to the Internet via IPv6, the level of opportunity for makers of such products as consoles, sensors, controls and fixtures - once these products are IPv6-enabled - must look enticingly high.

Deployment

Certainly, deployment of IPv6 is now seen as having gained a certain momentum and it seems also to be increasingly regarded as both easier and cheaper to implement than had once been feared, not least because the protocol is being integrated into many networking products. All of the major router manufacturers - Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Foundry Networks and Extreme Networks among them - now support IPv6, for example. At the same time, Microsoft supports IPv6 in Windows XP, and IPv6 is bundled with versions of Unix and Linux.

Also, given the fact that IPv6 is already being bundled in much of the hardware and software that carriers are already purchasing as part of their normal infrastructure upgrades, emerging demand for IPv6 is, it seems, being quite easily met. And perhaps more significant still for corporate network managers is the idea that IPv6 will require few additional costs beyond regular network upgrades. All in all, then, the future would seem to belong to v6.

To those who do suggest that the upgrade process to IPv6 is both time consuming and expensive, Cisco agrees merely to the degree that there is a "cost", though Grossetete suggests that it is one that is hard to evaluate as such costs vary on a case-by-case basis.

"For some networks," says Grossetete, "it is just a human cost - such as training, configuration, testing and management - while for others it is the cost of software and possibly hardware upgrades."

What is more important, believes Cisco, is the selection of a deployment scenario that enables IPv6 services at the lowest cost possible. According to Grossetete, "This is one of the reasons Cisco designed the 6PE approach to allow carriers and operators who run MPLS today to add IPv6 services in the locations where it is needed, thereby reducing costs."

Scaling the Internet

In one respect, however, according to Patrick Grossetete, the difference between IPv4 and IPv6 is not that great. "IPv6 is IP," says Grossetete, "And if a carrier is getting revenue from IPv4, there is no reason he can't get revenue for IPv6 in the same way."

By way of illustration, Verio's IPv6 network, which was announced in December 2003 and is said to represent the first commercial IPv6 service in the U.S., prices its new offerings at the same rates as its IPv4 services. Accordingly, it is for this reason that additional carrier revenues from the introduction of IPv6 may be some way off. "It may be hard to attract customers and charge them x dollars more just to transport IPv6," says Cisco's product manager.

Notwithstanding this fact, Grossetete asserts that the main benefit of IPv6 is its ability to scale the Internet and reach a mass-market size, defined as 20% or more of a given population. Cisco's spokesperson points out that the current level of 600 million Internet users represents less than 10% of the planet's population.

Also, it is stressed, as the number of end users increases and global addressing is restored, there is a high level of opportunity to push new services at the edge of the network, with IPv6 increasingly becoming associated with broadband access, mobile wireless technologies and a large set of new appliances. "This, "suggests Grossetete, "is where innovations and new services and revenues should be expected, considering that today IPv6 only reaches parity with IPv4."

Impact on vendors

In terms of the impact of IPv6 on major networking vendors, Cisco believes this comes down primarily to the requirement that vendors support a multi-protocol environment for the next few years, as it is apparent that IPv4 will not disappear overnight. With this in mind, manufacturers such as Cisco have delivered multi-protocol software on their products since day one.

So which vendor then is leading in the IPv6 stakes? In this respect, Cisco lays some claim to the title and stresses the following:

• Cisco engineers have been involved with the IETF IPv6 specification definitions from the beginning;

• For many years Cisco co-chaired the IETF IPv6 and NGtrans WG and now chairs the DHCP and Mobile IPv6 WG;

• New features, such as IPv6 over MPLS (also known as 6PE) and DHCPv6 Prefix Delegation have been co-authored by Cisco engineers and currently ship on Cisco products;

• IPv6 has been officially supported on Cisco routers since May 2001 and most of the company's products are now said to be IPv6-enabled;

• Cisco participates in large experiments and deployments all over the world. 6NET, Surfnet, Renater and Moonv6 are public examples. This, says the company, provides Cisco with the opportunity to collect feedback from early adopters in order to enhance its IPv6 portfolio; and

• As well as focusing on hardware forwarding - available on products such as high-end routers (Cisco 12000, Cisco 7600) and L3 switches (Catalyst 6500 and 3750) - Cisco also integrates the main transition mechanisms, such as 6to4, ISATAP, IPv6 over MPLS (6PE), and NAT-PT, in an effort to smooth the integration of IPv6 over existing infrastructure.

While it is clear that many major network infrastructure components are IPv6 enabled, there remains a charge that a number of important software applications have yet to fully support IPv6 and that this is acting to hold back development and uptake of the new protocol.

On this point, Cisco stresses the importance of a step-by-step approach and, indeed, Grossetete likens the introduction of IPv6 to the process of building a new house:

"You take your decision to find a new place, much as the IAB decided to create a new version of the IP protocol. Then you buy a field and make the foundations, and in this manner the IETF specified the core specifications. Later you put on a roof and begin the painting - you add to the shell - in the same way that networking vendors are now beginning to deliver official IPv6 support and ISPs are adding IPv6 services to their infrastructure and portfolio. This is where we are today."

Subsequently, adds Grossetete, "You add the furniture and that's the right time for associated applications and appliances - from Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP, Sony, Canon, Microsoft and others - to hit the market." Grossetete expects this to happen in the 2004-2006 period but stresses that such software providers first need official IPv6 support from the OS. "When you've added these finishing touches," says the Cisco spokesman, "when the end-users are buying the products and using them, then - finally - you can relax and have a drink."

Clearly, the optical networking sector will be affected by the level of IPv6 uptake, for if the Internet grows then the amount of traffic generated will increase accordingly, thereby requiring additional capacity in the core of the network where optical technology is crucial. This, however, cannot be achieved without the success of broadband access and mobile wireless services at the edge of the network, as it is these key areas that represent the essential drivers required to bring traffic to the core.

Accordingly, says Grossetete, "Areas such as bandwidth, global addressing and always-on connectivity are keys for new services that will generate the traffic absorbed by core optical."

IPv6 networks

Among non-U.S. IPv6 deployments, the China Next Generation Internet (CNGI) project has attracted particular attention. The largest IPv6 network initiative in China, the CNGI project was announced in November 2003 and is led by China's State Council, also encompassing eight other government ministries initiated and approved by China's State Council in 2003.

Five key Chinese carriers, including China Telecom, China Unicom, China Netcom/CSTNET, China Mobile, China RailCom and CERNET (China Education and Research Network), are slated to join CNGI, building their own national IPv6 backbone independently, while interconnecting with at least two IPv6 IX.

And late last year, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Information Industry claimed, for China at least, that "IPv6 is more important than 3G" as a result of the impact on additional economic growth and the promotion of application, service, media, content and manufacturing industries from IPv6 deployment.

It is apparent also that certain figures within the Chinese telecommunications industry see CNGI as an opportunity for China to 'catch up' with more developed countries. Indeed, some claim that China will have one of the biggest IPv6 networks in the world by the end of 2005 and that China will be the one of the world's leading IPv6 nations.

For Cisco, however, this misses the point, "China selected IPv6 as mandatory for CNGI," says Grossetete, "but it was not the only one. All national and research networks throughout the world have IPv6 services." It was pointed out that several Japanese ISPs currently offer IPv6 over broadband, while in the U.S. the Department of Defense called for IPv6 in June 2003, specifying that all products bought commencing October 2003 should be IPv6-capable.

A number of other high-profile IPv6 networks have been announced in recent months, amongst them the following:

1. In October 2003, the North American IPv6 Task Force (NAv6TF) announced that North America's largest IPv6 pilot network, Moonv6, had been deployed. The North American IPv6 Task Force had joined the military and university communities in building the largest-ever network based on IPv6. The network connects more than 80 servers, switches and nodes in eight states.

2. In December 2003, NTT East Corp, a regional unit of Nippon Telegraph & Telephone, said it would launch a commercial service based on IPv6, in the Tokyo metropolitan area in January 2004. The IPv6 service would be available to subscribers to NTT East's FTTH Internet access service or ADSL service.

3. Also in December 2003, Verio launched a commercial IPv6 gateway in North America that features native, tunnelling and dual-stack services. The gateway allows U.S. customers to connect to parent company NTT Communications' global tier-one IPv6 backbone operating in Asia, Europe, North America and Australia. Subsequently, Verio offers commercial IPv6 service at every location in the U.S. where it offers Internet access. Verio's IPv6 Gateway Services offer customers many of the same features as IPv4 connectivity. However, additional future enhancements would allow customers to benefit from many IPv6-exclusive features, including VPN product offerings as the enhanced IPv6 capabilities allow for full integration of the IPsec framework in IPv6, which enables end-to-end, secure communications.

Internet connectivity

There is another aspect also worth considering. The combination of IPv6 and cheap, always-on Internet connectivity is expected to enable many products - from refrigerators to digital cameras, sensors, and other electronic devices - to become Internet hosts. As a result, in Cisco's opinion**, "The Internet will be used to connect whole new classes of device for which networking was not previously cost-effective, and will replace the existing means of communication for many existing devices".

The evolution of the Internet has seen the 'global network' model shifting to what might be termed a largely 'client/server' model - with servers running users' applications being owned either by an ISP or a corporation. IPv6, however, with its 'global address for everybody' philosophy, goes some way to returning the Internet to something like its original mission since IPv6 enables end-users who have a global address space to set up their own server if they so wish. This clearly signals new opportunities for both users and service providers.

Sanyo in Japan, for example, offers a digital camera with a WiFi interface. After taking a picture, users can go to any 802.11 hotspot and download photos to their home server.

"If you look at this kind of application as well as distributed computing," says Grossetete, "I can see a lot of opportunities for the service providers to generate new services and revenues. One example might be an on-line backup centre as users wish to protect their data if they're running their own servers."

* According to Connexion by Boeing, the average home contains 250 devices that someday could be connected to the Internet via IPv6.

** An IPv6 Business Model Proposal - Community of Interest by Patrick Grossetete and Kevin Miles.