Re: ocean: do not boil

["Alper E. YEGIN" <alper@docomolabs-usa.com>]

> Now what are the possible solutions to that scenario?
>
> We could say that the best solution for this scenario is to install
> a NAT-PT-like box at the border of SiteA, modify the resolver in
> HostA (or the DNS server for SiteA) so that HostA will receive special
> IPv4-mapped addresses instead of A records for IPv4-only hosts,
> insert special routes to send packets to those addresses to the
> NAT-PT-like box, and translate traffic to those addresses from
> IPv6->IPv4 at the border of SiteA.
>
> We could say that the NAT-PT-like box should be installed at the
> border of SiteB, AAAA DNS entries should be advertised for the
> IPv4-only hosts within SiteB, routes should be advertised to cause
> IPv6 traffic to those addresses to come to NAT-PT-like box on the
> border of SiteB, and packets will be translated from IPv6->IPv4
> at that border.
>
> Or, we could simply suggest that, if people want to reach IPv4-only
> services from a given host, they should support IPv4 connectivity to
> that host.  This would mean installing a dual-stack on HostA and
> providing IPv4 connectivity (perhaps via NAT if IPv4 address space is
> an issue) within SiteA.
>
> We can suggest any one of these solutions, and people are, of course,
> entitled to ignore us.  Given the choice between these three, though,
> the third one seems simpler and less prone to introducing new
> architectural and application-level issues, since the IPv4 infrastructure
> would be exactly the same as what many people are using today.

Shouldn't we also be considering how any of these choices effect the
overall IPv6 transition of the Internet? Gradually we'd like to see IPv6
replace IPv4, right? So, if we marry the existence of an IPv6 instance
to existance of a matching IPv4 instance, how are we going to see
Internet's transition to IPv6...  If we pick the 3rd choice, we cannot
really
have IPv6-only hosts. When can we have one? Maybe as soon as
IPv6 has a critical mass and some of those hosts declare IPv4 Internet
is not worth the access...?

This choice also keeps the pressure on the IPv4 address demand and
the complexity to handle them..

I think deployment of IPv6->IPv4 (IPv6 connecting to IPv4) will
expedite the IPv6 transition of the Internet... "Co-existence" of IPv6 in
the current Internet is the must-have first step, but "transition" of
Internet
to IPv6 is the ultimate goal.. (unless we want to live with IPv4 forever,
and create an alternate/parallel universe of IPv6..)

alper