IPV6 DEPLOYMENT SCENARIOS FOR LARGE ISP NETWORKS

Transition from IPv4 to IPv6 from the point of view of large Internet service providers (ISP) is a complex and individual task. There is no perfect strategy, since the transition depends on existing infrastructure and it is driven by customer growth. In this paper we discuss transition strategies for large ISP networks. As the reference network, we analyze the production network of Telekom Austria (TA), the largest ISP in Austria today. Given that the number of customers requiring IPv6 services is quite low in Austria today, TA currently offers IPv6 services via static tunnelling. However, this is not a scalable long-term solution. There were many issues both technical and economic to consider, this paper concentrates on the technical, discussing the current scenario for providing IPv6 services and proposing two other scenarios. In contrast to the current scenario, they are suitable for a large number of IPv6 customers. We recommend one of these scenarios as a permanent solution for IPv6 transition in the analyzed network.