This project is to develop a global scale IPv6 monitoring system that will track IPv6 address allocations, IPv6 routing announcements, the topological connectivity of IPv6-capable networks, and IPv6 reachability in the data plane, all at the global scale. Each of these metrics is useful in tracking IPv6 deployment, but the right combination of control plane metrics and data plane metrics has the potential to provide a comprehensive overview of IPv6 deployment successes and obstacles. Lessons learned in monitoring IPv4 infrastructure will be applied, but monitoring IPv6 deployment poses a number of unique challenges and unknowns. At this early stage of IPv6 deployment, it is particularly important to provide data plane information that can complement the control plane information. This project will develop an innovative technique that measures IPv6 coverage and reachability by using active probes to DNS servers. This approach leverages our existing DNS monitoring infrastructure and will allow us to test reachablity in both IPv6-IPv6 and IPv6-IPv4 scenarios. If successful, the results will provide detailed information for researchers and operators faced with specific measurement questions and also provide a global perspective that is meaningful to those searching for IPv6 deployment challenges. The results will not only provide the latest snapshot of IPv6 rollout but will also help identify open issues and potential obstacles to facilitate IPv6 deployment.
