External Monitoring for IPv6 Enabled Services

Article by Brad

The need for a new Internet Protocol (IP) is well understood and accepted in the networking industry. Requirements for more address space, simpler address design and handling at the IP layer, better Quality of Service (QoS) support, greater security, and an increasing number of media types and Internet-capable devices have all contributed to drive the development of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

This paper by Dotcom-Monitor reviews the basics of IPv6, its deployment, and benefits. Most importantly, the paper identifies key challenges for businesses using IPv6, specific areas for IPv6 performance monitoring, and the benefits of external IPv6 performance monitoring.

IPv4, the current version of IP deployed worldwide, has proven remarkably robust, easy to implement, and interoperable with a wide range of protocols and applications. But, due to the Internet's current scale and complexity, the ongoing explosive growth of the Internet and Internet services exposed serious deficiencies in IPv4. IPv6 is designed to specifically address these deficiencies, enabling further Internet growth and development.

IPv6 Features

New standardized header format Larger address space Multicast and any cast Stateless address configuration Built-in security Better support for QoS Extensibility

IPv6 has a number of features that overcome the limitations of IPv4. A significant improvement is that the additional addresses remove the need for Network Address Translation (NAT). NAT has extended the life of IPv4 by allowing multiple devices to sit behind a router and share the same globally unique IP address. However, NAT also introduced a number of undesirable side effects, including specific difficulties in network troubleshooting, network administration, and the implementation of security protocols such as Internet Protocol Security (IPSec). IPv6 removesthe need for NAT, allowing flawless and transparent end-to-end security.

Benefits of IPv6

Improved efficiency in routing and packet handling Support for auto configuration and plug and play Support for embedded IPSec Enhanced support for Mobile IP and mobile computing devices Elimination of the need for NAT Support for widely deployed routing protocols Increased number of multicast addresses, and improved support for multicast

Why is IPv6 Performance Monitoring needed?As IPv6 is becoming the essential backbone protocol for next-generation networking, native IPv6 performance monitoring is essential to determine whether performance issues are originating in the transition phase to IPv6, or in the end-to-end IPv6 environment.

IPv6 websites can be accessed using dual stacks, tunneling and protocol translation, but IPv6 performance monitoring is essential to determine whether performance issues are originating in the end-to-end IPv6 environment. Companies that have deployed IPv6 websites must utilize native IPv6 performance monitoring to isolate Service-Level Agreement (SLA) issues for these sites as IPv4 monitoring alone cannot isolate IPv6 QoS issues.

To prevent the aforementioned problems, some companies hire a full-time, onsite professional to regularly perform diagnostics and monitoring on network systems. Safer than leaving the health of critical systems unmonitored and data unmaintained, the costs, however, are sometimes a painful liability. The cost of a full-time network professional is high, especially when the benefits, taxes, cost of necessary equipment and software to perform the job, etc...is factored into the cost along with salary. Often, companies do not have large enough network systems to fully occupy a full-time network employee, or to justify the added cost. In short, this method is risky and problematic, as it fails to address the specific IPv6 monitoring needs of the business in a cost-effective and targeted manner. For many companies working with an external IPv6 performance monitoring service provider is an excellent option.

IPv6 performance management and SLA monitoring becomes more important for businesses and organizations deploying IPv6 websites, while at the same time it is more complicated due to the co-existence of IPv4 and IPv6, the exponential size of IPv6 addressing and routing, and the lack of a killer application to drive wide-scale and accelerated IPv6 deployment.

While adding a network employee is an option, organizations and business opting for the external performance monitoring services avoid the long-term costs of added resources, and hiring for the IPv6 expertise needed to monitor the network system. Moreover the services offered external IPv6 performance monitoring providers are targeted and on-demand, including:

A proven, experienced team of IPv6 performance monitoring professionals working behind the scenes

Specific equipment and software tools needed to monitor IPv6 and maintain the network Regular maintenance and performance tuning, alarms Fast response times in the event of a system issue Multi-tiered, on-demand, affordable services customized to a company

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Orignal From: External Monitoring for IPv6 Enabled Services