IPv6 Mandates: Choosing a Transition Strategy, Preparing Transition Plans, and Executing the Migration of a Network to IPv6

Chapter 15. Managing IPv4 and IPv6 on the Same Network

	Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.
	--Henry Ford

Nobody wants more work on their plate. I can't sit here and tell you that adding IPv6 to your network will reduce your workload. I do think, however, that it will not increase your load as much as you might think. An IPv6 transition, from the point of view of ongoing maintenance, is really not much different from the enterprise-wide deployment of a new application. The initial period after transition will have its share of rough edges and you will probably put in some overtime cleaning them up. How's that different from the rollout of a new e-mail environment or timecard system, however? As things settle, you'll get change requests and enhancement requests and there will be daily maintenance, which should only require a minimum of resources above your IPv4 maintenance. Again, this is typical, as are the inevitable security hiccups that pop up now and then. No, IPv6 will not make your life easier. The hope is, however, that the capabilities it adds will exceed the additional workload and that's the basis for all the MIS/IT (and business) decisions that you make every day.

What You'll Learn

This chapter introduces some concepts for managing your newly IPv6-capable and your pre-transition IPv4-only networks together. Note that the IPv6-capable networks are also still running IPv4. The chapter first explains why heterogeneous networks ...