As a 20+ year industry veteran, when hearing the term Software Defined Networking (SDN) and the concept of Open Flow, I thought 'Haven't we solved this problem before?' Age-old protocols such as Spanning Tree and OSPF when deployed together provide consistent paths throughout the network. Newer technologies such as TRILL and Shortest Path Bridging capitalize on the aspects of those features combined to create a one stop shop protocol to accomplish the same idea. SDN, OpenFlow, and Open Daylight along...
IOL Blog: IP Networking
IOL INTACT™: BGP Conformance Scripting Made Easy
By Ying Li - December 18, 2013
The IOL INTACT software is an automated protocol test tool designed and developed in-house by UNH-IOL. It supports many protocols above the Physical Layer, and is fully extensible, making the addition of new protocols easy. Support for BGP was recently added, and with it comes several architectural considerations allowing for straightforward use in script development. BGP makes core routing decisions for the Internet. It is unique among routing protocols in that it runs over TCP/IP, which may lead one to believe that developing IOL INTACT test scripts for BGP would require implementation of TCP as well, adding significant complexity. However, thanks to the object-oriented design of IOL INTACT, the implementation is greatly simplified.
Stay Calm it's Only IPv6
By Timothy Winters - December 13, 2012
The amount of devices connecting to the global internet is growing on a daily basis. New products are constantly communicating with each other to provide a better user experience. Running shoes connect to a wireless network to upload speed and distance. Automated temperature and light controls communicate with a central system of a building to keep the cost of energy down. Virtual machines allow for several operating systems to run on the same piece of hardware, thus driving down maintenance costs.
Utilizing the USGv6 Test Program to meet IPv6 goals
By Timothy Winters - November 27, 2012
The need for IPv6 has been recognized since the early '90's, but the transition has proved to be much easier said than done. The United States Government (USG) aimed to make all of their external services - websites, email, DNS, etc. - accessible over IPv6 by September 2012. The Federal IPv6 Working Group has aided many agencies in their efforts to plan the transition. This required analysis of the new servers and the functions necessary to turn them on, as well as discussion about whether the current load balancer supported IPv6, and whether firewalls could still protect the new network after a simple firmware upgrade.
I'm a home gateway and want an IPv6 Ready Logo, but which one?
By Erica Johnson - March 22, 2012
Over the past couple of months, I have been receiving inquiries from home gateway (CPE) manufacturers about the existing IPv6 Ready Logo Phase-2 Core and the soon to be released CPE (November 2012) Logos. Some of these inquiries include: do I need a CPE Logo if I all ready have a Phase-2 Core Logo? Or, what's the difference in requirements between the two programs? To much of the existing logo holders disappointment, the IPv6 Ready Logo Phase-2 Core testing will not satisfy all the requirements that the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has defined in RFC 6204bis, "Basic Requirements for IPv6 Customer Edge Routers." Thus, the IPv6 Ready Logo committee created a new program called CPE Logo including the CE Router Test Specifications currently under public review. These test specifications include test cases for the added functionality necessary to ensure seamless connectivity to the home user.
CE Routers - What's Going on with the M and O Flags?
By Timothy Winters - December 22, 2011
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has recently been discussing the possibility of using the M and O flags in Router Advertisements to control the CE Router's DHCP client. After hosting our third IPv6 Customer Edge (CE) Router Interoperability Test Event, held November 7-11, 2011, the UNH-IOL documented the findings below.
World IPv6 Day: No News is Good News
By Timothy Winters - June 15, 2011
Did you notice any problems accessing your favorite websites last Wednesday? On Wednesday, June 8, the Internet Society coordinated World IPv6 Day, a 24-hour IPv6 "test flight." For most Internet users, June 8 was no different than any other day. There was no ticker on news programs or front page headlines stating that the Internet had melted down. In fact, there were no major issues encountered on World IPv6 Day at all, which is good news for the future of IPv6 technology.