On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 19:59, Ben Scott <[email protected]> wrote: > On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 10:29 PM, Kurt Buff <[email protected]> wrote: >> No familiarity with DHCPv6, so an ignorant question... > > This is currently the subject of holy wars on forums such as NANOG. > > An IPv6 node can discover the network number, network mask, and > local routers by using router solicitation. This is part of the core > IP protocol, and in theory should be part of every implementation. > The IPv6 node can then use its MAC address to generate a unique > address on the local network (this is called SLAAC (StateLess Address > Auto-Configuration)). So an IPv6 node can get a working network layer > on any network, without DHCPv6. > > However, you still need DHCPv6 to find out things like DNS servers. > So SLAAC is only good for layer 3, not for higher layer stuff. > > This has lead to a feud between those who think IPv6 address > assignment should work just like IPv4 -- via DHCP -- since that's what > everyone's infrastructure is built around, and thus SLAAC is just a > waste of resources, vs those who think addresses should come from > SLAAC and DHCPv6 should only be used to discover higher layer stuff. > Implementations behave according to which armed camp they align with. > > Things haven't shaken out yet. Until they do, I expect IPv6 > client-vs-network interoperability (i.e., "How do I configure my pee > sea for your net work?") to be a clusterfsck. > > -- Ben
I *knew* there was a reason I wasn't paying much attention to IPv6 yet... Kurt ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
