RFC 3068 (rfc3068) - Page 1 of 9
An Anycast Prefix for 6to4 Relay Routers
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group C. Huitema
Request for Comments: 3068 Microsoft
Category: Standards Track June 2001
An Anycast Prefix for 6to4 Relay Routers
Status of this Memo
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This memo introduces a "6to4 anycast address" in order to simplify
the configuration of 6to4 routers. It also defines how this address
will be used by 6to4 relay routers, how the corresponding "6to4
anycast prefix" will be advertised in the IGP and in the EGP. The
memo documents the reservation by IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority) of the "6to4 relay anycast prefix."
1 Introduction
According to [RFC 3056], there are two deployment options for a 6to4
routing domain, depending on whether or not the domain is using an
IPv6 exterior routing protocol. If a routing protocol is used, then
the 6to4 routers acquire routes to all existing IPv6 networks through
the combination of EGP and IGP. If no IPv6 exterior routing protocol
is used, the 6to4 routers using a given relay router each have a
default IPv6 route pointing to the relay router. This second case is
typically used by small networks; for these networks, finding and
configuring the default route is in practice a significant hurdle.
In addition, even when the managers of these networks find an
available route, this route often points to a router on the other
side of the Internet, leading to very poor performance.
The operation of 6to4 routers requires either that the routers
participate in IPv6 inter-domain routing, or that the routers be
provisioned with a default route. This memo proposes a standard
method to define the default route. It introduces the IANA assigned
"6to4 Relay anycast prefix" from which 6to4 packets will be
Huitema Standards Track