Invitations have gone out for a test of IP version 6 routers sponsored by Light Reading and its sister Website covering mobile network infrastructure, Unstrung.

Light Reading has commissioned the European Advanced Networking Test Center AG (EANTC) to develop the test plan and conduct the tests using test equipment from Ixia (Nasdaq: XXIA).

Service providers want to make sure that the routers they buy today won't become obsolete when and if IPv6 use takes off. These tests aim to address their concerns, by reviewing not only the performance of routers supporting native IPv6 networks but also networks migrating from one protocol to the other. The specific issues covered will be:

• Basic IPv6 forwarding performance
• IPv6-over-IPv4 tunneling performance
• BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) 4+ performance
• System availability during software upgrades

There are a limited number of time slots available for testing, and these will be awarded to vendors on a first-come, first-served basis. Light Reading is paying for the testing; vendors are responsible for shipping equipment to EANTC, setting it up, and providing engineering support during the test.

Testing is planned to start soon.

For more details of the test methodology, please download this document: IPv6 Test Specs.

Correspondence regarding the test should emailed to Carsten Rossenhövel, EANTC's managing director of research and manufacturer testing, at [email protected].

— Peter Heywood, Founding Editor, Light Reading