Bermuda 2: An Internet 2 Collaborative IPv6 Deployment Study
Welcome to the pages of the Bermuda 2 project, available via IPv4 or
IPv6. Bermuda 2 is a joint project between the UK Universities of
Southampton, UCL and Lancaster. Its aim is to study and report on
IPv6 deployment
issues in collaboration with Internet 2
partner sites which include ISI and the CRC. Links have also been established with the Japanese IPv6 initiatives in the WIDE project, and within the UK input has been received from BT Exact and Microsoft.
The project is funded by the JISC
and is managed by
UKERNA,
the organisation that directs development of the UK academic
network (JANET).
Internet Protocol Version 6, or IPv6, is the successor to the current
version of the Internet Protocol (IPv4) which has grown with the Internet
since the 1970's. IPv4 was not designed with the current rapid expansion and
pervasiveness of IP in mind. While IP has outlived
most other network protocols, it too is now showing signs of strain;
IPv4 does not scale to deliver the Internet of tomorrow.
IPv6 has
been in development by the IETF since
the early 1990's, and has now reached the stage where the core specifications
have been finalised, and where initial vendor implementations exist.
With initial trial deployments happening around the world, UKERNA is
seeking to gain some early deployment experience to assist in drawing
up a roadmap for IPv6 on UK academic networks.
The success of IPv4 cannot be underestimated, yet it also poses a major
obstacle for the roll-out of IPv6. The issue of IPv6 deployment, and
in particular IPv6 transition and integration, is an important area of
study. Bermuda 2 considers these issues both from the perspective of the
UK academic network backbone and of sites on the network. How should a
University plan adoption of IPv6? What are the implications of the
services to be enabled by the backbone provider? These questions will
be addressed within the project deliverables.
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