The IPv6 evolution solution required by operators must first be able to solve the problem of IPv4 address shortage. Due to time constraints, this solution must also have a high degree of maturity and simple deployment. Secondly, operators also need to consider long-term to determine the evolution route in the middle and later periods.
The latest data released by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) shows that there are only 252 million IPv4 addresses worldwide, less than 6% of the total. It is expected that IPv4 addresses will be exhausted in August 2011. As the Internet of Things, mobile Internet, IPTV, broadband Internet access and other services continue to grow, operators continue to expand the network scale, which also makes IPv4 addresses deplete faster. The industry believes that IPv6 is the least controversial solution to the shortage of IPv4 addresses.
Operator confusion
The process of upgrading an IPv4 to an IPv6 network by an operator is like repainting all rooms in a hotel, replacing furniture and facilities, and at the same time ensuring that the hotel is not closed for business or even receiving more passengers; Think about it. Operators generally face the following three challenges when upgrading to IPv6.
Many solutions
IETF has a point of view: "IPv6's biggest failure lies in its inability to be forward compatible with the IPv4 protocol." This is also the fundamental reason for the many evolutions that have occurred when upgrading from IPv4 to IPv6. Although the technology of these solutions is nothing more than three types-dual stack, tunnel and address translation, but there are more than 20 varieties on different minutiae, such as NAT444, NAT64, NAT-PT, DS- Lite, 6RD, IVI .
Some of these technical solutions can alleviate the urgent need for IPv4 address shortages, and some can help operators cope with IPv6 deployment needs from end users or their own network construction. Different technical solutions have different response scenarios, and operators have different network foundations, which makes it more difficult for operators to choose solutions.
Cost sensitive
The telecommunications industry is clearly no longer the "sunrise industry" in the early years, and operators are also constantly reducing gross profit to attract more users and resist competitive pressure. Especially after the global financial crisis in 2008, the telecommunications industry is inevitably caught in the dilemma of falling investment. On the issue of IPv6 network evolution, the scale of the operator's transformation covers all links such as terminals, access, metropolitan areas, and backbones. It is almost a network-wide upgrade, and the equipment purchase volume and capital investment are naturally not small. How to reduce TCO and protect investment is also one of the key issues that operators need to consider.
Smooth evolution
The evolution of IPv6 cannot be achieved overnight. Different telecommunications services and different application scenarios have different requirements for IPv6 evolution at different stages. Therefore, based on the progress of each transition technology, operators need to choose a suitable combination of transition solutions according to their own characteristics. In this process, operators must not only solve the current problem of address exhaustion, but also take into account that the long-term evolution process is more stable to achieve the purpose of protecting investment.
The way of IPv6 evolution
The IPv6 evolution solution required by operators must first be able to solve the problem of IPv4 address shortage. Due to time constraints, this solution must also have a high degree of maturity and simple deployment. Secondly, operators also need to consider long-term to determine the evolution route in the middle and later periods. In considering the entire network transformation process, operators should pay attention to controlling investment costs and protect the equipment purchased in the early stage from being fully used.
Initial transition plan NAT444
The NAT444 solution was proposed by Japan ’s NTT. Its main idea is to increase the location of NAT44. The operator deploys carrier-grade NAT44 equipment CGN, and at the same time forms a two-level address translation with the user-side NAT to form three address spaces, that is, the user-side private address , Operator's private address, public network address. This is also the origin of the name NAT444. The NAT444 solution can improve the multiplexing rate of IPv4 addresses, alleviate the problem of address exhaustion, and is easy to deploy. You only need to add CGN equipment at the aggregation layer or core layer, without the need for large-scale equipment replacement. In terms of user perception, technical maturity, and ease of deployment, NAT444 is currently a better solution.
Let's analyze the cost problem. Suppose that the overall reconstruction of a metropolitan area network with 1 million broadband users will be carried out using NAT444, 6RD, and DS-Lite. Because NAT444 is simple to deploy and does not require the support of a home gateway, it is only necessary to upgrade the metropolitan area network infrastructure and add CGN equipment at a cost of approximately US $ 4 million. The 6RD and DS-Lite solutions require the support of home gateways in addition to adding dedicated gateways in the metropolitan area network. Calculated at $ 43 per home gateway, the cost of these two solutions is more than $ 47 million. Obviously, the NAT444 solution has the most cost advantage.
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