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RE: Why IPv6 is a must?

2001-11-26 17:20:03
Caitlin Bestler wrote:

My point remains, a globally meaningful address is something that
should only be applied when it is useful for that endpoint to
be globally addressable.

This is your only valid point, and has nothing to do with NAT,
Firewalls, or anything else on this thread today... There are cases
where an application context calls for local scope addresses (like I may
not want my light switch available outside the home), but that is
exactly why IPv6 provides local link & site scope addresses. If you have
a device that is being used in a local scope application context, then
it should not acquire a global scope prefix.

At the same time there may be other applications sharing the wire that
are global scope (like my son and I run independent web servers). For
this context the global scope IPv6 addresses are exactly what is
required, because sharing a port doesn't work.

From my observations over time, the hardest thing for network
technologists to wrap their heads around is the fact that with IPv6
nodes are capable of multiple addresses simultaneously, and those
addresses have different scopes of applicability. It is a matter of
local policy which addresses get used, so match the address scope to the
use policy. In any case, stop saying that NAT is required to keep a node
hidden, because it is not. Also by definition if a NAT is aware of the
'hidden' device, the device is no longer hidden from the world.

Tony



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