[6bone] Network Address translation question

[Ken Raeburn]

On Jun 10, 2005, at 21:40, Michael Sturtz wrote:
> I understand that the RFC 1918 address equivalent IPv6 addresses are
> called "Site-local" addresses and are FEC0::/48.

That was the original plan.  After various objections to them, 
site-local addresses are on their way out, though I think a better 
solution to the problem is in the works.

> I do not see any
> provision in the IPV6 standards for the equivalent of NAT.  Is it safe
> to assume that if you only have a FEC0::/48 address space you cannot
> address other IPv6 hosts on the general internet?  With IPv4 you can 
> use
> NAT / PAT to translate a single valid IPv4 address into an entire
> internal network space.  I don't see this as an option in IPv6 is this
> correct?  Thanks,
> Michael Sturtz

<insert "NAT is evil" rant here>

I think the general plan was that if you're giving out addresses, 
usually you should give out at least a /64, which will let the customer 
connect a bunch of devices (and/or use the autoconfiguration privacy 
extensions, etc).  Will the ISPs do it that way for cable/dialup 
customers?  I don't know.  No ISP near me is doing IPv6 now, you could 
probably find out in archives of other lists I don't read...

If you do have an IPv4 address handy to use, though, you might look 
into the 6to4 transition mechanism.  Given an IPv4 address 1.2.3.4, you 
get 2002:0102:0304::/48 to play around with.  Some sites may not be 
able to route back to you, though.

Ken