The IETF and IPv6 Address Allocation

As experience has taught us, creating a specification for Internet Protocol is only a part of the technical work of ensuring the successful deployment of the protocol in an effective, useful and healthy global Internet. A deployed protocol can lead to new routing realities, which in turn lead to adjustment of routing protocols, best practices for route propagation, and best practices for address aggregation, and these in turn have an effect on address distribution policies and their operation.

In creating the IPv6 protocol, the IETF has requested that IANA begin allocations of IPv6 addresses from the 2000::/3 block of Global Unicast address space held in reserve by the IETF for future definition and use [RFC3513]. We are reviewing the basic IETF recommendations for minimum allocations [RFC2450, RFC2928], and at this stage it is evident that further technical investigation and discussion is needed, particularly with respect to appropriate expectations of aggregation in routing.

The IETF continues to have an important role to play in providing an environment for discussing operational realities of IPv6 deployment, and potential long term impact and requirements for address allocations beyond the 2000::/3 portion of the IPv6 address space. In ensuring that such IETF activities are properly informed by the realities and experience learned from the address allocation operation, and the address allocation function is undertaken in a manner that is consistent with the address architecture and routing capabilities, we maintain strong interaction and communication with the Regional Internet Registries and the associated addressing community.

Leslie Daigle,
for the IAB

Comments on this statement should be sent to the
IAB