Draft of "what is the 6bone"

[bound@zk3.dec.com]

Hi,

Bob Fink sent this to me and did a nice job.  I think its on target.  What 
do others think?

p.s. thanks Bob...

/jim


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What is the 6BONE?


The 6BONE is an outgrowth of the IETF IPng project that resulted in the
creation of the IPv6 protocols that will eventually replace the current
Internet network layer protocols known as IPv4.  One essential part in
the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 is the development of an Internet-wide
IPv6 backbone infrastructure that can transport IPv6 packets.  As with
the existing IPv4 Internet backbone, the IPv6 backbone infrastructure
will be composed of many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and user
networks linked together to provide the world-wide Internet.

Until the IPv6 protocols are widely implemented and fully tested for
interoperability, production ISP and user network routers will not
readily place production Internet (IPv4) routers at risk.  Thus a way
is needed to provide Internet-wide IPv6 transport in an organized and
orderly way for early testing and early use.  

The 6BONE is a virtual network layered on top of portions of the
physical IPv4-based Internet to support routing of IPv6 packets, as
that function has not yet been integrated into many production routers.
 The network is composed of islands that can directly support IPv6
packets, linked by virtual point-to-point links called "tunnels".  The
tunnel endpoints are typically workstation-class machines having
operating system support for IPv6.

Over time as confidence builds to allow production routers to carry
native IPv6 packets, it is expected that the 6BONE would disappear by
agreement of all parties.  It would be replaced in a transparent way by
production ISP and user network IPv6 Internet-wide transport.

The 6BONE is thus focused on providing the early policy and procedures
necessary to provide IPv6 transport in a reasonable fashion so testing
and experience can be carried out.  It would not attempt to provide new
network interconnect architectures, procedures and policies that are
clearly the purview of ISP and user network operators.  In fact, it is
the desire to include as many ISP and user network operators in the
6BONE process as possible to guarantee as seamless a transition to IPv6
as possible.

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