Vendors Test IPv6 on Moonv6

DURHAM, N.H. -- A new round of tests on the Moonv6 network stretching from New Hampshire to California has pushed IPv6 testing into new territory by venturing into voice, wireless, firewalls and a host of advanced network and application-layer tests, the North American IPv6 Task Force (NAv6TF) and the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) have announced.

Moonv6 represents the most aggressive multi-vendor test and demonstration of products being developed for the next-generation Internet protocol, IPv6. The latest round of testing began at the UNH-IOL on Oct. 30 and wrapped up at the U.S. Defense Department's Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) in Fort Huachuca, Ariz. on Nov. 12. Test areas included interoperability in pure IPv6 as well as mixed v6 and IPv4 networks, IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs, voice over IP (VoIP), firewalls and IPsec (IP Security), dual-stack routing, Internet protocols such as DHCP, DNS and various applications and transition mechanisms.

Moonv6 is a global project led by the North American IPv6 Task Force that includes industry leaders, the UNH-IOL, Internet2 and U.S. governmental agencies. The latest round of testing involved multiple service providers and networking companies, including Agilent Technologies, AT&T, Check Point Software Technologies, Cisco Systems, Extreme Technologies, Hitachi, Hewlett-Packard, Ixia, Juniper Networks, Lucent Technologies, Nortel, Microsoft, Panasonic, Secure Computing, Spirent, Sun Microsystems and Symantec.

The focus of the testing was to move IPv6 technology forward through a new round of advanced deployment and functionality scenarios. The November event combined test plans from multiple network operators, the UNH-IOL, the JITC and participant equipment vendors. Test items included Mobile IPv6 (IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs); Ethernet networks; Applications/Data traffic; Firewalls; Access Policy; Stateful Firewall Functionality; Network-level testing and deployment; IPSec and Applications between Firewalls; DHCP and DNS; Transition Mechanism Comparisons; Dual Stack Routing; Static Tunnel and additional mechanisms (tunnel broker, DSTM); IPv4/IPv6 QoS network level testing and applications testing.

"This is the first in an ongoing series of new, industry-wide multi-vendor tests in which companies that need to test products for IPv6 functionality and interoperability can access the secure Moonv6 backbone and test against each other," said Erica Williamsen, the UNH-IOL IPv6 technical manager and technical coordinator for the UNH-IOL testing. "IPv6 is being deployed today in Asia and IPv6-ready products are appearing in the North American market. IPv6 is not going away. The more interop events and group tests we can stage, the smoother the adoption curve as service providers ramp up mixed v4/v6 networks."

"Moonv6 is verification that IPv6 deployment is reaching the next level with the implementation and integration of products and network services," said Jim Bound NAv6TF Chair and IPv6 Forum CTO. "This is very good for both government and industry early adopters in North America and world wide."

University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (IOL)

IPv6 Task Force