Fujitsu will join other vendors at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) to demonstrate the security and reliability of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) with its GeoStream R920 IP/MPLS router in a project named Moonv6.
The carrier-grade GeoStream R900 multiservice routers support a wide variety of next-generation applications including Ethernet VPLS services over IP and Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) with 99.9999% reliability. This Fujitsu VPLS solution integrates seamlessly with existing Ethernet and IP/MPLS networks.
"High Internet access, and the phenomenal growth of cellular phone use, has rapidly depleted the global IPv4 address space," says Floyd Ferguson, director, data network product planning for Fujitsu Network Communications. "This has resulted in the widespread use of NAT (Network Address Translation), a protocol that arose as a short-term solution to hold down the demand for IP addresses through address reuse. IPv6, with its near-limitless supply of address space, plus other protocol advancements, mitigates address shortage issues, eliminates the need for NAT, and provides a solid platform for IT advancement and deployment of new end-to-end applications."
The Moonv6 project is a collaborative effort between the North American IPv6 Task Force (NAv6TF), the UNH-IOL, the Joint Interoperability Testing Command (JITC), various other Department of Defense (DoD) agencies, and Internet2 (I2). Taking place at multiple locations in North America, the Moonv6 project represents the most aggressive, collaborative, IPv6 interoperability and application demonstration event in the North American market to date. The UNH-IOL network will carry IP traffic over a multi-vendor, multi-protocol, geographically dispersed network, and will test both interoperability and IPv6 capability in various real-life scenarios.
Moonv6 testing occurs in two phases. Phase 1 will begin October 6, 2003 and last until October 17, 2003. Phase II will take place sometime in January 2004. Extensive interoperability and testing will cover multiple areas, including: Core Protocol Functionality (RFC compliance, neighbor discovery, tunneling, transition mechanisms); Router Functionality (RIPng, BGP4+, OSPFv3); Network support services (DNS, NFS, LDAP, E-mail and web services, etc.); Applications (Streaming media, web browsing, SSH, common business applications, etc.); and Security (host system security, router security, red teaming).
"Fujitsu has gone the extra mile to deliver a highly reliable, carrier-class, router that helps Service Providers migrate easily from IPv4 to IPv6," says Yoshisumi Kamigaki, General Manager of Overseas Carrier Business Division, Fujitsu Limited. "Two key, hardware-based, features within the GeoStream R900 router family facilitates this migration: 'IPv6 over IPv4 Tunneling' and 'IPv4/IPv6 Dual Stack.' 'IPv6 over IPv4 Tunneling' allows IPv6 packets to pass through an IPv4 network wrapped up in an IPv4 packet. The 'IPv4/IPv6 Dual Stack' feature allows the GeoStream router to process both IPv4 packets and IPv6 packets from the same interface, at the same time, with the same hardware. The forwarding module controls both IPv4 and IPv6 protocols simultaneously and runs high-speed packet forwarding by managing separate routing tables."
Earlier in the year, Fujitsu demonstrated its GeoStream routers at SUPERCOMM 2003 on the Metro Ethernet Forum booth. Fujitsu's GeoStream R900 VPLS solution is field-proven with customers and has a number of unique and advanced features that enable it to connect existing Ethernet and IP/MPLS networks together without major capital expenditures.
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The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) is a non-profit organization that offers comprehensive interoperability and conformance-based testing through 15 technology-based groups called Consortiums. The test solutions created at the UNH-IOL offer a unique set of methods to increase interoperability through protocol operations, signaling, point-to-point and multi-system scenarios.