Customer Reviews

IPv6 Core Protocols Implementation (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Networking)

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IPv6 Core Protocols Implementation addresses with technical depth and clarity an IPv6 implementation on University California Berkeley Source Code Distribution (BSD), from the KAME project that was based in Japan, which is both a commercial and academic success in the world wide networking implementation market. The book begins with an overview of the KAME project and source code distribution, and then provides a concise, but thorough overview of the BSD network implementation. Then the book provides the architecture and an implementation code base component for IPv6 added to the current BSD TCP/IP Internet Protocol layer code base, the implications of the changes to the Transport Layer, and then provides a review of the BSD Socket Application Interface changes for IPv6. The authors did a very good job of representing the source code implementation and it was easy to read and comprehend, with discussion for each programmatic presentation of the code base functions and data structures. This book will be valuable to both networking architects and programmers that have to absorb and understand the implementation of IPv6 within the TCP/IP network implementation and reference model. The book was a pleasure to read and reminded me of the TCP/IP technical books by the late Dr. Richard Stevens, and afforded me the same technical depth. CTO IPv6 Forum www.ipv6forum.com Jim Bound.

This book is an essential addition to your library if you want to understand IPv6 networking beyond just the surface. Initially the book will serve as a detailed introduction to IPv6, but the biggest value is later when it serves as a trusted reference book in your networking library. As the authors intended, it will serve as an implementation reference for IPv6 like how the Stevens' book on TCP/IP from the nineties served as the bible for TCP/IP (and IPv4) implementations. I still go back to that book when I want to understand some aspects of the BSD TCP/IP stack (which is the ancestor to many contemporary TCP/IP stacks.) I expect to use this book as a reference in the same way for many years as we start migrating to IPv6.

Who better to write an implementation-oriented book on IPv6 than the developers involved in the KAME project and the lead architect on the IPv6 stack of VxWorks? The KAME developers wrote their code in close sync with the evolution of IPv6 in the IETF and were privy to not just the authoring of IPv6 RFCs but the hundreds of invaluable side discussions that typically happen at the IETF conferences and mailing lists. When reading the book you can make this out easily from the interesting insights the authors provide on various aspects of the IPv6 protocols design as well as reasons for some implementation choices versus others. I also like the several places in the book where the IPv6 design is compared and contrasted with similar aspects of IPv4. This is very useful since most of us that buy this book have been working for a while with IPv4 and understand its design.

The book assumes that the reader is reasonably familiar with TCP/IP IPv4 and BSD Sockets programming. If you're already familiar with IPv6 then you can jump straight into almost any place in the book. If you are new to IPv6 and want to use this book initially as an introduction I suggest that you read the book in two passes. In the first pass you should read all the chapters, stopping in each chapter before the "Code Introduction" subsection. This first pass will give you an introduction to the IPv6 protocol, IPv6 addressing, ICMPv6, Neighbor Discovery (ND), Autoconfiguration and the Sockets API for IPv6 - these constitute the core of what you need to know about IPv6. You could stop with this pass and then use the rest of the book as a reference. Or you could keep going and do a second pass of all chapters and go through the code sections. This second pass will now be much easier since you now have a good overall grasp of IPv6.

When it comes to the code walk-throughs and explanation of data structures I found that the authors have done a very meticulous job. Every interesting line of code is explained in detail and as I mentioned before there are many useful insights into "why's of the code" rather than dry comments on what it does. The book also comes with 2 CDROMs which contain all the referenced KAME source code and the FreeBSD 4.8 release. However, if you're like me and want only the latest/greatest release, I suggest going to the latest release of your choice of a BSD-based OS and browsing those source files instead. As a Mac guy I went with the latest kernel sources for Mac OS X 10.4. The Mac OS X Darwin kernel (a.k.a. XNU, not to be confused with Xinu OS from Comers' TCP/IP books) is a derivative of BSD built on top of a MACH microkernel. The IPv6 stack in Darwin/XNU is a port from KAME. I found it relative easy to follow the code explanations in the book with the XNU version of the IPv6 code. As you would expect, the line numbers from the book don't match the XNU line numbers, but the filenames are identical and it is relatively easy to find the corresponding code snippets referenced in the book. There were definitely some differences between the two code trees, but I did not run into anything that was substantially different in the sections I read.

All in all this book is a great addition to my networking library and I am looking forward to the second book from the authors that plans to cover the ancillary protocols to IPv6 such as IPv6 routing, multicasting, DNS, etc.

This book is written in the same style as Stevens' TCP/IP Illustrated Volume
II and serves as The replacement of Stevens' books for IPv6. This book blends
in-depth discussion of the IPv6 protocols and standards with line-by-line
code annotation and design digest of the KAME implementation. As the WIDE
project board member and the original core KAME developer, I approve the
technical accuracy of this book and certify the content of this book
represents the KAME implementation well. I fully endorse this book and
personally recommend it to every programmer as the IPv6 network programming
book.

This is the best book out there if you want to understand IPv6 inside and out. I found this book very useful since it's written in a style very reminiscent of Stevens' "TCP/IP Illustrated Vol. 2". Through the use of detailed diagrams and detailed code walkthroughs of the KAME source, the authors are able to effectively expand and clarify their explanations of the IPv6 protocols.

Within 24 hours after I received my book, it already help me solve one problem. If you are a network developer like me, you will definitely appreciate all the illustrations that helps you understand how the KAME IPv6 code interact with the BSD code. I also like various references to RFC in the book so you can easily look up the standard when you want to know more.

IPv6 Core Protocols Implementation is a very detailed book. Starting with the IPv6 protocol history (the WIDE and Kame projects), the book continues through a line by line analysis of the code, answering any questions you might have on IPv6. IPv6 Core Protocols Implementation also cites RFC numbers, making it easy to reference the standards involved with a specific line of code.

The authors of this book are also some of the key authors of the IPv6 protcol code. No one is more qualified to explain the ins, outs, whys and wherefores of IPv6 than Qing Li, Tatuya Jinmei, Keiichi Shima.

IPv6 Core Protocols is both informative and easy to read. It takes painstaking efforts to show not only what the code does but why it does it, and that's what's important in a tech book. Anyone could read the code, but only a few people can tell you why the code was written in that way. That's what separates a great computer book from a good one.

If you want to learn the basics of IPv6 and its peripheral routing and transition protocols, there are a number of good books on the market. But what if you're a software coder needing to work with IPv6, or want to understand its implementation in intimate detail?

For this, there is only one choice: The two-volume set by Qing Li, Tatuya Jinmei, and Keiichi Shima. These are the IPv6 equivalent of Steven's TCP/IP Illustrated and Comer's Internetworking with TCP/IP, books that should be on every networking professional's bookshelf. Like the multi-volume Stevens and Comer books, these books go deep into the functional structures of an IPv6 implementation--in this case the KAME implementation for BSD.

The first volume, IPv6 Core Protocols Implementation, starts off with an overview of the KAME IPv6 distribution for BSD and how to build a KAME-enabled kernel; in little more than a dozen pages the book takes you directly into the code structure. From there the remainder of the book leads you through the core protocols from basic address architecture to ICMPv6 and Neighbor Discovery Protocol to the intricacies of IPv6 at the transport layer and socket API extensions.

The second volume, IPv6 Advanced Protocols Implementation, covers IPv6 routing protocols (through route6d), IPv6 multicast, DNS, and DHCPv6. The last two chapters of the book delve into Mobile IPv6 and the basics of IPv6 security.

While these books are a deep-dive into the code, they don't assume you know IPv6; each chapter covers the basics of its topic before getting into the coding. So whether you are a coder needing to learn IPv6, a network architect wanting to know the IPv6 protocols more intimately, or just want a solid reference on your bookshelf for those times when the RFCs and general configuration guides just aren't enough to troubleshoot an IPv6 problem, I highly recommend these books. There are no others to compare.

This is a very well written book that covers all aspects of the IPv6 protocol and theory. Chapters, although long, are well structured and thorough, covering not only current operational theory, but also implementation issues that arise in deployments. Of particular use are the annotated listings - and in-depth data structure layouts - of the relevant sections of the IPv6 KAME implementation that also refer to material previously discussed. All code listings and annotations followed the model used to great effect within Richard Steven's TCP/IP books. Of particular interest when reading through the chapter material and annotated listings are references to deprecated RFCs and historical rationals that help provide additional context to some of the more baroque parts of the KAME code.
This book assumes a fairly thorough knowledge of TCP/IP networking protocols - it is not intended to be a primer on networking or IPv6. That said, this reference book is ideal for anyone with good networking knowledge that wishes to expand or understand elements of either IPv6 or the KAME implementation.

I'm looking for a book to address KAME IPv6 stack and that is compatible with TCP/IP Illustrated Vol 2 by W. Richard Steven. I think this is the one after searching. Authors follow the format and style in the Steven's "bible". It is really a good reference book for IPv6 in-depth. This book has 2 CDs - one is ISO of FreeBSD 4.8 and another is KAME snapshot release. Even though I don't finish reading the whole book, so far so good.