IPv6-to-IPv6 Network Prefix Translation
RFC 6296

• Status
• IESG evaluation record
• IESG writeups
• Email expansions
• History

• Versions
• 16

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                      M. Wasserman
Request for Comments: 6296                             Painless Security
Category: Experimental                                          F. Baker
ISSN: 2070-1721                                            Cisco Systems
                                                               June 2011

                IPv6-to-IPv6 Network Prefix Translation

Abstract

   This document describes a stateless, transport-agnostic IPv6-to-IPv6
   Network Prefix Translation (NPTv6) function that provides the
   address-independence benefit associated with IPv4-to-IPv4 NAT
   (NAPT44) and provides a 1:1 relationship between addresses in the
   "inside" and "outside" prefixes, preserving end-to-end reachability
   at the network layer.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for examination, experimental implementation, and
   evaluation.

   This document defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
   community.  This document is a product of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF
   community.  It has received public review and has been approved for
   publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not
   all documents approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of
   Internet Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6296.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2011 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must

Wasserman & Baker             Experimental                      [Page 1]
RFC 6296                          NPTv6                        June 2011

   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     1.1.  What is Address Independence?  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     1.2.  NPTv6 Applicability  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     1.3.  Requirements Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   2.  NPTv6 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     2.1.  NPTv6: The Simplest Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     2.2.  NPTv6 between Peer Networks  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
     2.3.  NPTv6 Redundancy and Load Sharing  . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     2.4.  NPTv6 Multihoming  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     2.5.  Mapping with No Per-Flow State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
     2.6.  Checksum-Neutral Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   3.  NPTv6 Algorithmic Specification  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     3.1.  NPTv6 Configuration Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     3.2.  NPTv6 Translation, Internal Network to External Network  . 12
     3.3.  NPTv6 Translation, External Network to Internal Network  . 12
     3.4.  NPTv6 with a /48 or Shorter Prefix . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
     3.5.  NPTv6 with a /49 or Longer Prefix  . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     3.6.  /48 Prefix Mapping Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     3.7.  Address Mapping for Longer Prefixes  . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   4.  Implications of Network Address Translator Behavioral
       Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
     4.1.  Prefix Configuration and Generation  . . . . . . . . . . . 15
     4.2.  Subnet Numbering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
     4.3.  NAT Behavioral Requirements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   5.  Implications for Applications  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
     5.1.  Recommendation for Network Planners Considering Use of
           NPTv6 Translation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
     5.2.  Recommendations for Application Writers  . . . . . . . . . 18
     5.3.  Recommendation for Future Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
   6.  A Note on Port Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
   7.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
   8.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
   9.  References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
     9.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
     9.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20