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INTERNET-DRAFT R. Hinden, Nokia
June 11, 2003 Brian Haberman, Caspian
Globally Unique IPv6 Local Unicast Addresses
<draft-hinden-ipv6-global-local-addr-01.txt>
Status of this Memo
This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026. Internet-Drafts are working
documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas,
and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute
working documents as Internet-Drafts.
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet- Drafts as reference
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
To view the list Internet-Draft Shadow Directories, see
http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.
This internet draft expires on December 16, 2003.
Abstract
This document defines an unicast address format that is globally
unique and is intended for local communications, usually inside of a
site. They are not expected to be routable on the global Internet
given current routing technology.
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1.0 Introduction
This document defines an IPv6 unicast address format that is globally
unique and is intended for local communications [IPV6]. They are not
expected to be routable on the global Internet given current routing
technology. They are routable inside of a more limited area such as
a site. They may also be routed between a limited set of sites.
Globally unique IPv6 local addresses have the following
characteristics:
- Globally unique prefix.
- Well known prefix to allow for easy filtering at site
boundaries.
- Allows sites to be combined or privately interconnected without
creating any address conflicts or require renumbering of
interfaces using these prefixes.
- Internet Service Provider independent and can be used for
communications inside of a site without having any permanent or
intermittent Internet connectivity.
- If accidentally leaked outside of a site via routing or DNS,
there is no conflict with any other addresses.
- In practice, applications may treat these address like global
scoped addresses.
- These addresses are also candidates for end-to-end use in some
classes of multihoming solutions.
This document defines the format of Globally Unique IPv6 Local
addresses, how to allocate them, and usage considerations including
routing, site border routers, DNS, application support, VPN usage,
and guidelines for how to use for local communication inside a site.
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC 2119].
2.0 Acknowledgments
The underlying idea of creating globally unique IPv6 local addresses
describe in this document been proposed a number of times by a
variety of people. The authors of this draft does not claim
exclusive credit. Credit goes to Brian Carpenter, Christian Huitema,
Aidan Williams, Andrew White, Michel Py, Charlie Perkins, and many
others. The authors would also like to thank Brian Carpenter,
Charlie Perkins, Harald Alvestrand, Keith Moore, Margaret Wasserman,
and Michel Py for their comments and suggestions on this draft.
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3.0 Globally Unique IPv6 Local Unicast Addresses
3.1 Format
The globally unique IPv6 local addresses are created using a
centrally allocated global ID. They have the following format:
| n |
| bits | m bits | 16 bits | 64 bits |
+--------+------------+-----------+-----------------------------+
| prefix | global ID | subnet ID | interface ID |
+--------+------------+-----------+-----------------------------+
Where:
prefix prefix to identify Globally Unique IPv6 Local
unicast addresses.
global ID global identifier used to create a globally
unique prefix. See section 3.2 for additional
information.
subnet ID 16-bit subnet ID is an identifier of a subnet
within the site.
interface ID 64-bit IID as defined in [ADDARCH].
There are a range of choices available when choosing the size of the
prefix and Global ID field length. There is a direct tradeoff
between having a Global ID field large enough to support foreseeable
future growth and not using too much of the IPv6 address space
needlessly. A reasonable way of evaluating a specific field length
is to compare it to a projected 2050 world population of 9.3 billion
[POPUL] to compare the number of resulting /48 prefixes per person.
A range of prefix choices is shown in the following table:
Prefix Global ID Number /48 Prefixes % of IPv6
Length Prefixes per Person Address Space
/11 37 137,438,953,472 15 0.049%
/10 38 274,877,906,944 30 0.098%
/9 39 549,755,813,888 59 0.195%
/8 40 1,099,511,627,776 118 0.391%
/7 41 2,199,023,255,552 236 0.781%
/6 42 4,398,046,511,104 473 1.563%
A very high utilization ratio of these allocations can be assumed
because no internal structure is required in the field nor is there
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any reason to be able to aggregate the prefixes.
The authors believes that a /7 prefix resulting in a 41 bit Global ID
is a good choice. It provides for a large number of assignments
(i.e., 2.2 trillion) and at the same time uses less than .8% of the
total IPv6 address space. It is unlikely that this space will be
exhausted. If more than this was needed, then additional IPv6
address space could be allocated for this purpose.
For the rest of this document the FC00::/7 prefix and a 41-bit Global
ID is used.
3.2 Global ID
The allocation of global IDs should be pseudo-random [RANDOM]. They
should not be assigned sequentially or with well known numbers. This
to ensure that there is not any relationship between allocations and
to help clarify that these prefixes are not intended to be routed
globally. Specifically, these prefixes are designed to not
aggregate.
There are two ways to allocate Global IDs. These are centrally by a
allocation authority and locally by the site. The Global ID is split
into two parts for each type of allocation. The prefixes for each
type are:
FC00::/8 Centrally assigned
FD00::/8 Locally assigned
Each results in a 40-bit space to allocate.
Two assignment methods are included because they have different
properties. The centrally assigned global IDs have a much higher
probability that they are unique and the assignments can be escrowed
to resolve any disputes regarding duplicate assignments. The local
assignments are free and do not need any central coordination or
assignment, but have a lower (but still adequate) probability of
being unique. It is expected that large managed sites will prefer
central assignments and small or disconnected sites will prefer local
assignments. Sites are free to choice either approach.
3.2.1 Centrally Assigned Global IDs
Centrally assigned global IDs MUST be generated with a pseudo-random
algorithm consistent with [RANDOM]. They should not be assigned
sequentially or by locality. This to ensure that there is not any
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relationship between allocations and to help clarify that these
prefixes are not intended to be routed globally. Specifically, these
prefixes are designed to not aggregate.
Global IDs should be assigned centrally by a single allocation
authority because they are pseudo-random and without any structure.
This is easiest to accomplish if there is a single source of the
assignments.
The requirements for centrally assigned global ID allocations are:
- Available to anyone in an unbiased manner.
- Permanent with no periodic fees.
- One time non-refundable allocation fee in the order of 10 Euros
per allocation.
- The ownership of each individual allocation should be private,
but should be escrowed.
The allocation authority should permit allocations to be obtained
without having any sort of internet connectivity. For example in
addition to web based registration they should support some methods
like telephone, postal mail, fax, telex, etc. They should also
accept a variety of payment methods and currencies.
The reason for the one time 10 Euro charge for each prefix is to
provide a barrier to any hoarding of the these allocations but at the
same time keep the cost low enough to not create a barrier to anyone
needing one. The charge is non-refundable in order to keep overhead
low.
The ownership of the allocations is not needed to be public since the
resulting addresses are intended to be used for local communication.
It is escrowed to insure there are no duplicate allocations and in
case it is needed in the future (e.g., to resolve duplicate
allocation disputes).
An example of a allocation authority is a non-profit organization
such as the Public Internet Registry (PIR) that the Internet Society
has created to manage the .org domain. They already know how to
collect small sums efficiently and there are safeguards in place for
the appropriate use of any excess revenue generated.
Note, there are many possible ways of of creating an allocation
authority. It is important to keep in mind when reviewing
alternatives that the goal is to pick one that can do the job. It
doesn't have to be perfect, only good enough to do the job at hand.
The authors believe that PIR shows that this requirement can be
satisfied, but this draft does not specifically recommend the choice
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of PIR.
3.2.2 Locally Assigned Global IDs
Global IDs can also be generated locally by an individual site. This
makes it easy to get a prefix with out the need to contact an
assignment authority or internet service provider. There is not as
high a degree of assurance that the prefix will not conflict with
another locally generated prefix, but the likelihood of conflict is
small. Sites that are not comfortable with this degree of
uncertainty should use a centrally assigned global ID.
Locally assigned global IDs MUST be generated with a pseudo-random
algorithm consistent with [RANDOM]. Section 3.2.3 describes a
suggested algorithm. It is important to insure a reasonable
likelihood uniqueness that all sites generating a Global IDs use a
functionally similar algorithm.
3.2.3 Sample Code for Pseudo-Random Global ID Algorithm
The algorithm described below is intended to be used for centrally
and locally assigned Global IDs. In each case the resulting global
ID will be used in the appropriate prefix as defined in section 3.2.
1) Obtain the current time of day in 64-bit NTP format [NTP].
2) Obtain the birth date of the person running the algorithm (or
one of his/her descendants or ancestors) in 64-bit NTP format.
3) Concatenate the time of day with the birth date resulting in a
128-bit value (i.e., TOD, Birthday).
4) Compute an MD5 digest on the 128-bit value as specified in
[MD5DIG].
5) Use the least significant 40 bits as the Global ID.
This algorithm will result in a global ID that is reasonably unique
and can be used as a Global ID.
3.3 Scope Definition
By default, the scope of these addresses is global. That is, they
are not limited by ambiguity like the site-local addresses defined in
[ADDRARCH]. Rather, these prefixes are globally unique, and as such,
their applicability exceeds the current site-local addresses. Their
limitation is in the routability of the prefixes, which is limited to
a site and any explicit routing agreements with other sites to
propagate them. Also, unlike site-locals, these prefixes can overlap
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4.0 Routing
Globally IPv6 Local address are designed to be routed inside of a
site in the same manner as other types of unicast addresses. They
can be carried in any IPv6 routing protocol without any change.
It is expected that they would share the same subnet IDs with
provider based global unicast addresses if they were being used
concurrently [GLOBAL].
Any routing protocol that is used between sites is required to filter
out any incoming or outgoing globally unique IPv6 local routes. The
exception to this is if specific /48 globally unique IPv6 local
routes have been configured to allow for inter-site communication.
If BGP is being used at the site border with an ISP, by default
filters MUST be installed in the BGP configuration to keep any site-
local prefixes from being advertised outside of the site or for site-
local prefixes to be learned from another site. The exception to
this is if there are specific /48 routes created for one or more
globally unique IPv6 local prefixes.
5.0 Renumbering and Site Merging
The use of globally unique IPv6 local addresses in a site results in
making communication using these addresses independent of renumbering
a site's provider based global addresses.
When merging multiple sites none of the addresses created with these
prefixes need to be renumbered because all of the addresses are
unique. Routes for each specific prefix would have to be configured
to allow routing to work correctly between the formerly separate
sites.
6.0 Site Border Router and Firewall Filtering
While no serious harm will be done if packets with these addresses
are sent outside of a site via a default route, it is recommended
that they be filtered to keep any packets with globally unique IPv6
local destination addresses from leaking outside of the site and to
keep any site prefixes from being advertised outside of their site.
Site border routers SHOULD install a black hole route for the
Globally Unique IPv6 Local prefix FC00::/7. This will insure that
packets with Globally Unique IPv6 Local destination addresses will
not be forwarded outside of the site via a default route.
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Site border routers and firewalls SHOULD NOT forward any packets with
globally unique IPv6 local source or destination addresses outside of
the site unless they have been explicitly configured with routing
information about other globally unique IPv6 local prefixes. The
default behavior of these devices SHOULD be to filter them.
7.0 DNS Issues
Globally Unique IPv6 Local addresses SHOULD NOT be installed in the
global DNS. They may be installed in a naming system local to the
site or kept separate from the global DNS using techniques such as
"two-faced" DNS.
If globally unique IPv6 local address are configured in the global
DNS, no harm is done because they are unique and will not create any
confusion. The may not be reachable, but this is a property that is
common to all types of global IPv6 unicast addresses.
For future study names with globally unique IPv6 local addresses may
be resolved inside of the site using dynamic naming systems such as
Multicast DNS.
8.0 Application and Higher Level Protocol Issues
Application and other higher level protocols can treat globally
unique IPv6 local addresses in the same manner as other types of
global unicast addresses. No special handling is required. This
type of addresses may not be reachable, but that is no different from
other types of IPv6 global unicast addresses. Applications need to
be able to handle multiple addresses that may or may not be reachable
any point in time. In most cases this complexity should be hidden in
APIs.
From a host's perspective this difference shows up as different
reachability than global unicast and could be handled by default that
way. In some cases it is better for nodes and applications to treat
them differently from global unicast addresses. A starting point
might be to give them preference over global unicast, but fall back
to global unicast if a particular destination is found to be
unreachable. Much of this behavior can be controlled by how they are
allocated to nodes and put into the DNS. However it is useful if a
host can have both types of addresses and use them appropriately.
Note that the address selection mechanisms of [ADDSEL], and in
particular the policy override mechanism replacing default address
selection, are expected to be used on a site where globally unique
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IPv6 local addresses are configured.
9.0 Use of Globally Unique IPv6 Local Addresses for Local Communications
IPv6 globally unique IPv6 local addresses, like global scope unicast
addresses, are only assigned to nodes if their use has been enabled
(via IPv6 address autoconfiguration [ADDAUTO], DHCPv6 [DHCP6], or
manually) and configured in the DNS. They are not created
automatically the way that IPv6 link-local addresses are and will not
appear or be used unless they are purposely configured.
In order for hosts to autoconfigure globally unique IPv6 local
addresses routers have to be configured to advertise globally unique
IPv6 local /64 prefixes in router advertisements. Likewise, a DHCPv6
server must have been configured to assign them. In order for a node
to learn the globally unique IPv6 local address of another node, the
globally unique IPv6 local address must have been installed in the
DNS. For these reasons, it is straight forward to control their
usage in a site.
To limit the use of globally unique IPv6 local addresses the
following guidelines apply:
- Nodes that are to only be reachable inside of a site, the local
DNS should be configured to only include the globally unique
IPv6 local addresses of these nodes. Nodes with only globally
unique IPv6 local addresses must not be installed in the global
DNS.
- Nodes that are to be limited to only communicate with other
nodes in the site should be set to only autoconfigure globally
unique IPv6 local addresses via [ADDAUTO] or to only receive
globally unique IPv6 local addresses via [DHCP6]. Note: For the
case where both global and globally unique IPv6 local prefixes
are being advertised on a subnet, this will require a switch in
the devices to only autoconfigure globally unique IPv6 local
addresses.
- Nodes that are to be reachable from inside of the site and from
outside of the site, the DNS should be configured to include the
global addresses of these nodes. The local DNS may be
configured to also include the globally unique IPv6 local
addresses of these nodes.
- Nodes that can communicate with other nodes inside of the site
and outside of the site, should autoconfigure global addresses
via [ADDAUTO] or receive global address via [DHCP6]. They may
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also obtain globally unique IPv6 local addresses via the same
mechanisms.
10.0 Use of Globally Unique IPv6 Local Addresses with VPNs
Globally unique IPv6 local addresses can be used for inter-site
Virtual Private Networks (VPN) if appropriate routes are set up.
Because the addresses are unique these VPNs will work reliably and
without the need for translation. They have the additional property
that they will continue to work if the individual sites are
renumbered or merged.
11.0 Advantages and Disadvantages
11.1 Advantages
This approach has the following advantages:
- Provides globally unique local prefixes that can be used
independently of any provider based IPv6 unicast address
allocations. This is useful for sites not always connected to
the Internet or sites that wish to have a distinct prefix that
can be used to localize traffic inside of the site.
- Applications can treat these addresses in an identical manner as
any other type of global IPv6 unicast addresses.
- Sites can be merged without any renumbering of the globally
unique IPv6 local addresses.
- Sites can change their provider based IPv6 unicast address
without disrupting any communication using globally unique IPv6
local addresses.
- Well known prefix that allows for easy filtering at site
boundary.
- Can be used for inter-site VPNs.
- If accidently leaked outside of a site via routing or DNS, there
is no conflict with any other addresses.
11.2 Disadvantages
This approach has the following disadvantages:
- Not possible to route globally unique IPv6 local prefixes on the
global Internet with current routing technology.
Consequentially, it is necessary to have the default behavior of
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site border routers to filter these addresses.
- There is a very low probability of non-unique locally assigned
global IDs being generated by the algorithm in section 3.2.3.
This risk can be ignored for all practical purposes, but it
leads to a theoretical risk of clashing address prefixes.
12.0 Security Considerations
Globally unique IPv6 local addresses do not provide any inherent
security to the nodes that use them. They may be used with filters
at site boundaries to keep globally unique IPv6 local traffic inside
of the site, but this is no more or less secure than filtering any
other type of global IPv6 unicast addresses.
Globally unique IPv6 local addresses do allow for address-based
security mechanisms, including IPSEC, across end to end VPN
connections.
13.0 IANA Considerations
The IANA is instructed to allocate the FC00::/7 prefix for Globally
Unique IPv6 Local addresses.
The IANA is instructed to delegate, within a reasonable time, the
prefix FC00::/8 to an allocation authority for Globally Unique IPv6
Local prefixes of length /48. This allocation authority shall comply
with the requirements described in section 3.2 of this document,
including in particular the charging of a modest one-time fee, with
any profit being used for the public good in connection with the
Internet.
14.0 Change Log
Draft <draft-hinden-ipv6-global-local-addr-01.txt>
o Added section on scope definition and updated application
requirement section.
o Clarified that, by default, the scope of these addresses is
global.
o Renumbered sections and general text improvements
o Removed reserved global ID values
o Added pseudo code for local allocation submitted by Brian
Haberman and added him as an author.
o Split Global ID values into centrally assigned and local
assignments and added text to describe local assignments
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Draft <draft-hinden-ipv6-global-local-addr-00.txt>
o Initial Draft
REFERENCES
Normative
[ADDARCH] Hinden, R., S. Deering, S., "IP Version 6 Addressing
Architecture", RFC3515, April 2003.
[GLOBAL] Hinden, R., S. Deering, E. Nordmark, "IPv6 Global Unicast
Address Format", Internet Draft, <draft-ietf-ipv6-unicast-
aggr-v2-02.txt>, February 2003.
[IPV6] Deering, S., R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6
(IPv6) Specification", RFC2460, December 1998.
[MD5DIG] Rivest, R., "The MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm", RFC1321,
April 1992.
[NTP] Mills, David L., "Network Time Protocol (Version 3)
Specification, Implementation and Analysis", RFC1305, March
1992.
[POPUL] Population Reference Bureau, "World Population Data Sheet
of the Population Reference Bureau 2002", August 2002.
[RANDOM] Eastlake, D. 3rd, S. Crocker, J. Schiller, "Randomness
Recommendations for Security", RFC1750, December 1994.
[RFC2026] Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision
3", RFC2026, BCP00009, October 1996.
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", RFC2119, BCP14, March 1997.
Non-Normative
[ADDAUTO] Thomson, S., T. Narten, "IPv6 Stateless Address
Autoconfiguration", RFC2462, December 1998.
[DHCP6] Droms, R., et. al., "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
for IPv6 (DHCPv6)", Internet Draft, <draft-ietf-dhc-
dhcpv6-28.txt>, November 2002.
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[ADDSEL] Draves, R., "Default Address Selection for Internet
Protocol version 6 (IPv6)", RFC3484, February 2003.
AUTHOR'S ADDRESSES
Robert M. Hinden
Nokia
313 Fairchild Drive
Mountain View, CA 94043
US
phone: +1 650 625-2004
email: bob.hinden@nokia.com
Brian Haberman
Caspian Networks
1 Park Drive, Suite 300
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
US
phone: +1-929-949-4828
email: brian@innovationslab.net
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