From: Eugene M. Kim (gene_at_no.spam)
Date: Thu Nov 15 2001 - 11:58:20 PST
On Thu, Nov 15, 2001 at 07:41:32AM -0000, D. J. Bernstein wrote:
>
>
> Eugene M. Kim writes:
> > The natural ability to have a whole /64 network behind a single fixed
(Glad you quoted this, because it must be noted that I made a mistake and
should've said /48 instead of /64. Thank you. =))
> > IPv4 address comes to mind first.
>
> Which applications take advantage of this? What do they do?
>
> How are those applications supposed to work in a future IPv6 world, for
> people who _don't_ have IPv4 addresses?
Your question is misleading.
It's not some specific *applications* that take direct advantages of
6to4, but certain *situations* that do. There isn't (or shouldn't be)
any application that is specifically written to understand and work
within 6to4 environment, except for applications written to configure
and manage the 6to4 network itself. If you can present valid classes
of IPv6 applications that must behave differently in 6to4 environment, I
will be happy to correct myself.
I am quite sure you already understand this, but let me give an example
situation FWIW.
Let's say: A dialup/DSL/cable subscriber gets only one IPv4 address for
her home, but has numerous computers at command. Her ISP does not even
provide IPv6 access yet. She wants to give each and every computer of
hers a globally-visible IPv6 address so she can use <insert some random
IPv6 application that uses peer-to-peer model here>. 1)
With 6to4 it is possible for her to set up a /48 globally-visible IPv6
network. Applications within the /48 network doesn't have to know about
the fact that they are operating within 6to4 environment. They just
behave like they should in non-6to4 networks and work fine.
Means: These applications will work in a future IPv6 world, for example
when she gets an IPv6 prefix in the 2001:: space and converts her 6to4
network to use this prefix, and also later when she gets rid of her good
and old IPv4 address. Applications will still be able to reach the
global IPv6 Internet. Whether they will be able to reach the global
IPv4 Network is beyond the scope of 6to4 and is being addressed
separately by other proposals.
Regards,
Eugene
1) If you're saying that `there is no such application right now so your
argument is pointless,' please think twice. I am quite sure there will
be such applications in a near future, myself being a developer of one
(a chat system based on P2P model; this is my pet project). IPv6 has
emerged largely because there are some limitations and needs to be
lifted and fulfilled better, but it does _not_ mean that IPv6 (or any
related technology such as 6to4) is meaningful only if there are some
applications that take advantage of it `right now.' You would never
know if there's any application people are developing in the hope that
it will fit perfectly into the scenario made possible by 6to4.
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