RFC 1678 (rfc1678) - Page 1 of 8

IPng Requirements of Large Corporate Networks

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Network Working Group                                         E. Britton
Request for Comments: 1678                                       J. Tavs
Category: Informational                                              IBM
                                                             August 1994


             IPng Requirements of Large Corporate Networks

Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  This memo
   does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of
   this memo is unlimited.

Abstract

   This document was submitted to the IETF IPng area in response to RFC
   1550.  Publication of this document does not imply acceptance by the
   IPng area of any ideas expressed within.  Comments should be
   submitted to the  mailing list.  This draft
   summarizes some of the requirements of large corporate networks for
   the next generation of the Internet protcol suite.

Executive Overview

   As more and more corporations are using TCP/IP for their mission-
   critical applications, they are bringing additional requirements,
   summarized below, the satisfaction of which would make TCP/IP even
   more appealing to businesses.  Since these are requirements rather
   than solutions, we include capabilities that might be provided in
   protocol layers other than the one that IPv4 occupies; i.e., these
   items might lie outside the scope typically envisioned for IPng, but
   we'll refer to them as IPng requirements nonetheless.  When we
   mention potential solutions, it is not to suggest that they are the
   best approach, but merely to clarify the requirement.

   Among business users the major requirements we see for IPng are:

      -- smooth migration from, and coexistence with, IPv4;
      -- predictable levels of service for predictable costs;
      -- security; and
      -- accommodation of multiple protocols suites.

   We also mention several more specific requirements.

   IPng must have a viable strategy for migration from, and coexistence
   with, IPv4.  IPv4 and IPng must coexist well, because they will need
   to do so for several years.  To encourage IPv4 users to upgrade to



Britton & Tavs
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