IPv6-only Terminology Definition
draft-palet-v6ops-ipv6-only-04

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v6ops                                                  J. Palet Martinez
Internet-Draft                                          The IPv6 Company
Intended status: Informational                              July 3, 2019
Expires: January 4, 2020

                    IPv6-only Terminology Definition
                     draft-palet-v6ops-ipv6-only-04

Abstract

   This document defines the terminology regarding the usage of
   expressions such as "IPv6-only", in order to avoid confusions when
   using them in IETF and other documents.  The goal is that the
   reference to "IPv6-only" describes the actual native functionality
   being used, not the actual protocol support.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on January 4, 2020.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2019 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
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   described in the Simplified BSD License.

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   3.  Definition of IPv6-only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  Dual-stack  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   5.  Native dual-stack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   6.  IPv6-only network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   7.  IPv6-only WAN/access  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   8.  IPv6-only LAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   9.  IPv6-only host/router . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   10. Transitional IPv6 host/router . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   11. Other cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   12. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   13. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   14. Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5

1.  Introduction

   Due to the nature of the Internet and the different types of users,
   parts of a network, providers, flows, etc., there is not a single and
   easy way to categorically say something such as "IPv6-only".

   The goal of this document is to depict this situation and agree in a
   common language to be used for IETF and other documents, in order to
   facilitate ourselves and future readers, the correct understanding of
   what we are talking about.

   Note that all the references in this document are regarding the
   actual usage of IPv4/IPv6, not the support of those protocols by
   nodes.  For example, a device or access network may support both IPv4
   and IPv6, however actually is only "natively" forwarding IPv6,
   because the link used for that communication is only natively
   configured for IPv6.  IPv4 may be used as well, but it is being
   encapsulated or translated by means of IPv6.  So from this
   perspective, this device is attached to an IPv6-only link.

2.  Context

   The transition from IPv4 to IPv6 is not something that can be done,
   in the large majority of the cases, overnight and in a single step.
   Consequently, in general, we are unable to talk about a whole network
   having a "single and uniform" status regarding the IPv6 support, at
   least not in the early deployment stages of an operator network.

   Even if possible, it is not frequent to deploy new IPv6 networks
   which have no IPv4 connectivity at all, because at the current phase

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