Running IPv6 [Hardcover]

Iljitsch van Beijnum (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

With the exponential growth of internet services, IPv4, first released in 1981, is becoming even more outdated and irrelevant. The escalation of corporate intranets, cellular phones with internet access, technology webcasts, and file sharing have taken their toll, and there is a need for a greater number of IP addresses.

While IPv4 uses 34-bit addresses, IPv6 addresses are 128 bits long, and allow for more unique addresses. While the adoption of IPv6 won’t be immediate, it is necessary.

Running IPv6 compares and contrasts IPv6 to IPv4, and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each. Because most major software and hardware vendors have (or will) adopt IPv6, the focus of this book is to leverage your existing knowledge of IPv4 and to help you apply that knowledge to the newer protocol. This book explains how to install and operate the IPv6 protocol for Windows XP, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, Red Hat Linux, and Cisco routers. The book also covers DNS and BIND, Zebra, Apache 2, and Sendmail.

About the Author

Iljitsch is a freelance network specialist and writer in the Netherlands. He is the author of BGPand is active within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), especially within the Multihoming in IPv6 (multi6) working group.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (November 11, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590595270
• ISBN-13: 978-1590595275
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #530,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My first must-read book of 2006, January 30, 2006

By	Richard Bejtlich "TaoSecurity.com" (Metro Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Running IPv6 (Hardcover)

When I read and reviewed O'Reilly's IPv6 Network Administration by Niall Richard Murphy and David Malone, I called their book "a must-have book for all network administrators." Upon seeing Apress' Running IPv6 by Iljitsch van Beijnum, I wondered if I would waste my time reading and reviewing another book on IPv6. Now I'm glad I digested Running IPv6 -- it's my first must-read book of 2006. The books are complementary, so I recommend them both.

Three years ago I read and reviewed van Beijnum's book on BGP, which I liked while thinking it was somewhat terse. In Running IPv6, van Beijnum strikes the proper balance between explanatory language and technical details. Every chapter in the new book taught me something useful. In Ch 1 I liked comparisons involving IPv4, IPv6, IPX, DECnet, AppleTalk, and OSI CLNP. In Ch 2 I enjoyed sections on using 48 bit MAC addresses in IPv6 addresses. Ch 3 featured tips on the "on-link" assumption. As would be expected in a book by a BGP expert, Ch 4 provided lots of guidance on routing IPv6. Ch 5 included history on the evolution of DNS for IPv6, with RFCs 1886 and 2874 competing for primacy.

Ch 6 covered issues that applications might encounter when handling IPv6. Ch 7 introduced the "HD ratio," which estimates the point at which the effort required to manage increasingly "used-up" address space suggests that expanding it would be more efficient. Ch 8 mentioned the headaches caused by automatically generated, multiple MAC addresses for IPv6 multicast. Ch 9 scared me with use of the multicast ping for host discovery. Ch 10 was the first time I saw an effort to show how to use Tcpdump with IPv6.

I had no real issues with Running IPv6. I found a few production errors and typos that can be fixed in later printings. All are obvious, except the use of the word "maximum" in the first sentence of the last paragraph on p. 153. (I think that should be "minimum.")

Like IPv6 Network Administration, I liked van Beijnum's attention to command syntax for multiple OS' -- especially FreeBSD. He even covered Cisco and Juniper in the same book. Since I suggest reading the O'Reilly and Apress titles, I recommend reading the former first and the latter second. Van Beijnum's book is best read by those with a little more exposure to IPv6, but it can certainly stand alone if need be.

If you plan to ever have anything to do with IPv6, you must buy van Beijnum's latest book. Bravo.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential IPv6 Reference, June 8, 2007

By	Daniel McKinnon (Tewksbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: Running IPv6 (Hardcover)

'Running IPv6' by Iljitsch van Beijnum is an essential reference for any IT people who are looking to:

1. Upgrade from IPv4
2. Learn more about the IPv6 standard
3. Want to configure and set up IPv6

This book covers Windows, Mac, Free BSD, Linux, Cisco routers, DNS and bind... the whole shebang

Not written for a novice, this book assumes that you have knowledge of IP-related material and are not reading this book simply for "vacation reading". In a niche market this book scales its way to the top of the moutain.

Great resource!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars how to go from IPv4 to IPv6?, January 4, 2006

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Running IPv6 (Hardcover)

IPv6 has been brooded over for a decade by various Internet groups. This book shows its present incarnation. It has grown very sophisticated; well beyond a simple vast expansion of the address space from 32 bits to 128 bits. So the text talks about the various tunnelling and routing options that become possible under it, that are unavailable under IPv4.

Yet to me the most interesting section of the book is the chapter on transitioning from IPv4 [the current Internet] to IPv6. Every other technical issue about IPv6 pales in comparison to this quandry. The author gives the best value in the book in this chapter. He shows firstly that IPv4 will inevitably exhaust its space. Though he prudently refrains from speculating when that might be. The transition must also be incremental. No one expects a swift global change to be realistic.

Then he explains that the modes of transition come down to analysing only 4 communication models for most common web usage. Namely email, Web browsing and two types of peer-to-peer usage. Examples of the latter are VoIP and BitTorrent.

From the models, we see the necessity for using a proxy or address translation to handle the transition. An especially clear analysis.