39-3
Cisco Catalyst Switch Module 3110 and 3012 for IBM BladeCenter Software Configuration Guide
OL-12189-01
Chapter 39 Configuring IPv6 Host Functions and Unicast Routing
Understanding IPv6
IPv6 also provides these advantages over IPv4:
• Address management and delegation
• Address autoconfiguration with stateless autoconfiguration, which is similar to DHCP but does not
require a specified DHCP application or server
• Embedded IPsec (encrypted security)
• Routing optimized for mobile devices
• Duplicate Address Detection (DAD) feature
For information about how Cisco Systems implements IPv6, go to this URL:
http://www.cisco.com//warp/public/732/Tech/ipv6/
This section describes IPv6 implementation on the switch. These sections are included:
• IPv6 Addresses, page 39-3
• Supported IPv6 Host Functions and Unicast Routing Features, page 39-4
• Unsupported IPv6 Host Functions and Unicast Routing Features, page 39-11
• Limitations, page 39-12
• IPv6 and Switch Stacks, page 39-12
• SDM Templates, page 39-13
IPv6 Addresses
The switch supports only IPv6 unicast addresses. It does not support site-local unicast addresses, anycast
addresses, or multicast addresses.
The IPv6 128-bit addresses are represented as a series of eight 16-bit hexadecimal fields separated by
colons in the format: x:x:x:x:x:x:x:x. This is an example of an IPv6 address:
2031:0000:130F:0000:0000:09C0:080F:130B
For easier implementation, leading zeros in each field are optional. This is the same address without
leading zeros:
2031:0:130F:0:0:9C0:80F:130B
You can also use two colons (::) to represent successive hexadecimal fields of zeros, but you can use this
short version only once in each address:
2031:0:130F::09C0:080F:130B
For more information about IPv6 address formats, address types, and the IPv6 packet header, go to the
“Implementing Addressing and Basic Connectivity” section of “The Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration
Library” at this URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps1839/products_feature_guide09186a00807fcf4b.
html
In the “Information About Implementing Basic Connectivity for IPv6” section, these sections apply to
the switch:
• IPv6 Address Formats
• IPv6 Address Type: Unicast
