Kundra sets new IPv6 deadlines -

FTA:

• Upgrade the servers and services the public uses, such as Web, e-mail and Domain Name System servers, to use native IPv6 by the end of fiscal 2012.
• Upgrade internal client applications that communicate with public Internet servers and supporting enterprise networks to use native IPv6 by the end of fiscal 2014.
• Designate an IPv6 transition manager by Oct. 30 as the person responsible for leading the agency’s transition activities.
• Ensure that agency procurements of networked IT comply with Federal Acquisition Regulation requirements for using the USGv6 profile and testing program for the completeness and quality of IPv6 capabilities.

One of the greatest challenges DREN faced was the lack of commercial network management tools that adequately supported IPv6, Broersma said. Many products that claimed to be IPv6-compliant lacked critical functionality and implemented the support in different ways. That was a concern echoed by industry and government representatives at the workshop.

Mohan said that when Afilias was implementing IPv6 on its networks, it found a “remarkable difference” in the way equipment processed IPv6 packets. The packets were processed in software rather than hardware, resulting in slower performance and requiring the use of banks of appliances rather than single tools to provide the performance needed.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology encountered the same problem when it was developing a technology profile for IPv6 compliance, said Doug Montgomery, manager of NIST's Internet and Scalable Systems Metrology Group.

One of the gaping holes was the lack of network security devices, he said. The USGv6 testing program is expected to help correct that by establishing a baseline of support that is required from vendors selling to the government.

http://washingtontechnology.com/Articles/2010/09/28/Kundra-sets-new-IPv6-deadlines.aspx