Dell PowerEdge is uniquely positioned for IPv6 game changer
Download PDFFri, 04 Aug 2023 12:00:13 -0000
|Read Time: 0 minutes
Introduction
The complexity of today’s infrastructure along with recent government regulations is driving major changes in infrastructure deployment. One such change is the transition from Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) to Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).
With the rapid growth of the Internet and the increasing number of connected devices, IPv4 addresses are becoming scarce. This scarcity is referred to as address exhaustion. As a result, service providers have started charging a premium price for continued use of IPv4 and in some cases leasing the network addresses. This practice is encouraging the transition to IPv6.
Address exhaustion particularly affects vertical industries such as telecommunications where the need for network addresses continues to grow. At the close of 2021, mobile service subscriptions reached 5.3 billion individuals, equivalent to 67 percent of the world’s population. From now until 2025, there will be more than 400 million new mobile subscribers[1].
While IPv4 allows for about 4.3 billion unique IP addresses, IPv6 expands this number to an almost limitless and astonishing number of possible addresses using 128-bit addresses (2128), allowing 340 undecillion, or approximately 3.4 x 1038, unique IP addresses. To illustrate the size of this number, if every square meter of the earth’s surface was assigned an IPv6 address, there would be enough addresses to cover the entire surface of the earth more than seven billion times. Therefore, we do not anticipate running out of IPv6 addresses anytime soon.
Many organizations, including communication solution providers, are upgrading their network infrastructure to support IPv6.
Security and performance benefits of IPv6
In addition to providing more network addresses, IPv6 provides many other benefits over IPv4. IPv6 provides customers with better end-to-end connectivity, simplified network management, and improved security:
- Improved network performance—IPv6 provides numerous benefits that can improve network performance. For example, the reduced need for fragmentation of packets helps reduce latency and improve network performance. Additionally, IPv6 supports larger packets that help reduce overhead and improve network throughput.
- Simplified network management—IPv6 simplifies network management through multiple features, including:
- Route aggregation—IPv6 can be deployed using a hierarchical address allocation method. This method facilitates route aggregation across the Internet, which limits the growth of routing tables.
- Autoconfiguration—IPv6 devices can independently autoconfigure themselves when connected to other IPv6 devices. This action simplifies network configuration. IPv6 includes multiple autoconfiguration options, including support for stateless address autoconfiguration (SLAAC) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) v6, which can help simplify managing an address. In addition, it can add security by preventing attacks such as DHCP spoofing.
- Enhanced security—IPv6 provides enhanced security features that are not available in IPv4. For example, IPv6 has integrated support for Internet Protocol Security (IPsec), and when enabled it provides end-to-end encryption and authentication.
Government mandates accelerate the adoption of IPv6
Some governments and regulatory bodies have mandated the use of IPv6 in various sectors, such as telecommunications, government networks, and critical infrastructure.
In 2020, the US government issued OMB M-21-07 directing all federal agencies to enable IPv6-only networks and services starting in 2023, with the goal of 80 percent completion by 2025. The directive also acknowledges that IPv6 offers significant benefits such as improved network performance, enhanced security, and future-proofing. The latest National Cybersecurity Strategy Paper from March 2023 specifically states that steps must be taken to mitigate the slow adoption of IPv6.
The United States government has strongly advocated for IPv6 adoption and uses the USGv6 program for strategic planning and acquisition policies. The program requires OEMs and product vendors to test their products according to the USGv6-r1 specifications at accredited test labs.
USGv6 validated RFC 2460 at Layer 3, which had a denial-of-service vulnerability. USGv6r1 provides many improvements over USGv6. These improvements include addressing the denial-of-service vulnerability by validating RFC8200/8201, and IPv6-only support within the application. By testing on Dell hardware, Dell Technologies also validates Layer 2 NIC compliance for devices that provide IP off-loading functionality. USGv6-r1 went into effect as of November 2022.
The drive to adopt IPv6 is not just restricted to North America; task force-like groups are emerging worldwide. To help with the global adoption, the IPv6 Forum, a worldwide consortium focused on providing technical guidance for the deployment of IPv6, launched a single worldwide IPv6 Ready Logo Program. This conformance and interoperability testing program is intended to increase user confidence by demonstrating that IPv6 is now available and ready to use. India and Malaysia also have IPv6 certification programs for telecommunication equipment compliance. The specifics of these programs, including their focus, certification authority, requirements, and target audience vary depending on the guidelines and objectives set forth by the respective governments.
Table 1. Worldwide IPv6 certification programs
Program | Market | Layer 3 | Dell products |
USGv6-r1 | United States | X |
Note: See the InterOperability Laboratory (iol) USGv6-r1 Product Registry at https://www.iol.unh.edu/registry/usgv6?name=dell&test_lab=All |
USGv6 | United States | X |
|
IPv6 Ready Logo | Worldwide | X |
|
TEC MTCTE | India | X |
|
MCMC IPv6 | Malaysia | X |
|
Dell’s industry-first certification
To uphold these standards and help organizations achieve their adoption goals, Dell PowerEdge servers now offer IPv6-only support. This support enables federal agencies and critical infrastructures to comply with the government’s directive and take advantage of the many benefits of IPv6.
Dell Technologies is proud to be the first company to provide USGv6r1 capabilities with our PowerEdge servers and Unity-XT storage products. These capabilities are a significant milestone for Dell Technologies and the industry. We are excited to see the positive impact on our customers’ networks.
Dell Technologies provides key features with both our PowerEdge servers and our Unity-XT storage products, offering a fully capable solution to Dell customers from the operating system, base management controller (BMC), and storage.
- The Dell PowerEdge server is the first server in the industry to be USGv6r1- and IPv6 Ready Logo 5.1.2-compliant while running the
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 and greater operating system
- Applicable versions of the Windows 2019 operating system
- Applicable versions of the Windows 2022 operating systems
- Dell PowerEdge iDRAC9 with 5.10.00.00 firmware is the first BMC to be “IPv6-only” compliant and validated on the USGv6R1 register, and Ready Logo 5.1.2 compliant.
- Unity-XT is the first storage product to meet the USGv6r1 profile capability requirement IPv6-Only Functional v1.1.
Conclusion
Although IPv6 has been available for more than two decades, it is still a relatively new technology. Some customers might not be ready to transition. However, our responsibility as a technology leader is to push the industry forward and to offer our customers the latest and most advanced technologies. In addition to the benefits of IPv6-only support, Dell PowerEdge servers offer exceptional performance, reliability, and security features. With PowerEdge servers, Dell customers can be confident that they are getting the best of both worlds: the latest and most advanced technology combined with the exceptional quality and performance for which Dell Technologies is known.