Features of IPV6:

  • Larger address space: Offers improved global reachability and flexibility; the aggregation of prefixes that are announced in routing tables; multihoming to several Internet service providers (ISPs) auto configuration that can include link-layer addresses in the address space; plug-and-play options; public-to private readdressing end to end without address translation; and simplified mechanisms for address renumbering and modification.
  • Simpler header: Provides better routing efficiency;   no   broadcasts   and   thus no potential threat of broadcast storms; no requirement for processing checksums; simpler and more efficient extension header mechanisms; and flow labels for per-flow processing with no need to open the transport inner packet to identify the various traffic flows.
  • Mobility and security: Ensures compliance with mobile IP and IPsec standards functionality; mobility is built in, so any IPv6 node can use it when necessary; and enables people to move around in networks with mobile network devices—with many having wireless connectivity.

         Mobile IP is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard available for both IPv4 and IPv6. The standard           enables mobile devices to move without breaks in established network connections. Because IPv4 does   not           automatically   provide this kind of mobility, you must add it with additional configurations.

         IPsec is the IETF standard for IP network security, available for both IPv4 and IPv6. Although the                                 functionalities  are essentially identical in both environments, IPsec is   mandatory   in   IPv6.   IPsec   is                     enabled on every IPv6 node and is available for use. The availability of IPsec on all nodes makes the IPv6                   Internet more secure. IPsec also requires keys for each party,   which implies   a global key deployment  and            distribution.

  • Transition richness: You can incorporate existing IPv4 capabilities in IPv6 in the following ways:
    • Configure a dual stack with both IPv4 and IPv6 on the interface of a network device.
    • Use the technique IPv6 over IPv4 (also called 6to4 tunneling), which uses an IPv4 tunnel to carry IPv6 traffic. This method (RFC 3056) replaces IPv4- compatible tunneling (RFC 2893). Cisco IOS Software Release 12.3(2)T (and later) also allows protocol translation (NAT-PT) between IPv6 and IPv4. This translation allows direct communication between hosts speaking different protocols.

IPV6 Header

                                 

                                                                   Figure: IPV6 Header 

Specifically, IPv6 omits the following fields in its header.

  • header length (the length is constant)
  • identification
  • flags
  • fragment offset (this is moved into fragmentation extension headers)
  • header checksum (the upper-layer protocol or security extension header handles data integrity)

IPv6 options improve over IPv4 by being placed in separate extension headers that are located between the IPv6 header and the transport-layer header in a packet. Most extension headers are not examined or processed by any router along a packet's delivery path until it arrives at its final destination. This mechanism improves router performance for packets containing options. In IPv4, the presence of any options requires the router to examine all options.

Another improvement is that IPv6 extension headers, unlike IPv4 options, can be of arbitrary length and the total amount of options that a packet carries is not limited to 40 bytes. This feature, and the manner in which it is processed, permit IPv6 options to be used for functions that were not practical in IPv4,   such as the   IPv6 Authentication and Security Encapsulation options.

By using extension headers, instead of a protocol specifier and options fields, newly defined extensions can be integrated more easily into IPv6.