Will said
This book fails to provide any value over reading RFCs. To start with, not only is the author's English lacking, she also doesn't seem to have any analytical skills. This book is a superficial regurgitation of pro-IPv6 arguments, and transliteration of RFC material.
Here is a sampling of examples of the above:
1) The authors of IPv4 did not think of QoS (then what is the TOS field for?)
2) IPv6 has autoconfiguration which makes it superior to IPv4 (how different is asking for a prefix from asking for an address?).
3) IPv6 "adds" path MTU so it avoids IPv4's fragmentation (IPv4 can do that too!).
4) 128 bit addresses are needed (64 bit addresses are way more than anyone can ever need).
5) The chained IPv6 extension headers are flexible and therefore superior to IPv4 (but they also require parsing and traversing the list to get to ULP).
Is there anything incorrectly designed in IPv6? According to Hagen, IPv6 is perfect. What kind of protocol has no issues??
If you can read RFCs, this book is a waste of money.
John R. Vacca said
Are you interested in wanting to understand and implement the IPv6 protocol! If you are, then this book is for you. Author Silvia Hagen, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that covers IPv6 in detail and explains all of the new features and functions.
Hagen, begins by briefly explaining the history of IPv6 and gives you an overview of the new functionality. Then, the author describes the new IPv6 header format with a discussion of each field and trace file examples. Then, the author explains everything you need to know about the new address format, address notation, address types, international registry services, and prefix allocation. Next, she describes the new ICMPv6 message format, the ICMPv6 Error messages and informational messages, and the ICMPv6 header in the trace file. The author continues by discussing the basic security concepts and requirements. Then, the author discusses the basic requirements and types of QoS. Next, she discusses Layer 2 support for IPv6, the mapping of multicast addresses to Layer 2 addresses, and the Detecting Network Attachment working group. The author then discusses the advanced routing features of IPv6 and covers the available routing protocols such as RIPng, OSPFv3 for IPv6, and BGP extensions for IPv6, IS-IS, and EIGRPv6. Then, she discusses what is going on above the IPv6 layer, starting with changes for TCP and UDP, continuing with a detailed discussion of the DHCPv6 specification, DNS extensions for IPv6, SLPv2 in IPv6 networks, FTP, Telnet, and web servers. The author continues by discussing the different transition mechanisms that have been defined, such as dual-stack operation, tunneling, and translation techniques. Then, she explains why the Mobile IPv6 technology will become the foundation for a new generation of mobile services. Finally, she explains how to get started with IPv6 on different operating systems, such as Sun Solaris, Linux, BSD, Windows 2003, Windows XP, Mac OS, and a Cisco router.
This most excellent book will show you how to plan for, design, and integrate IPv6 in your current IPv4 infrastructure. More importantly, it teaches you what you need to know to get started, to configure IPv6 on your hosts and routers, and to find the right applications that support IPv6.
Richard Bejtlich said
I read and reviewed "IPv6 Network Administration" (INA) in August 2005 and "Running IPv6" (RI) in January 2006. I gave those books 5 stars, so I had high expectations for "IPv6 Essentials, 2nd Ed" (IE2E). INA and RI are very hands-on, implementation-specific books. IE2E is more concerned with explaining protocols and IPv6 features. In this respect, IE2E is the perfect complement to INA and RI.
Silvia Hagen is clearly an IPv6 fan. I was initially skeptical about IPv6 adoption after reading comments by Daniel J. Bernstein and Renesys' Todd Underwood. I still have concerns, but reading case studies in Ch 10 of actual IPv6 deployments helped me understand the author's enthusiasm. Sylvia is less critical of IPv6 than INA and RI, which share recommendations for real-world usage. I still have serious concerns with security vulnerabilities in autoconfiguration (one of the major "cost savers" of IPv6) and IPSec key management (the other major "improvement" in IPv6, basically requiring PKI). I also believe the emphasis on "end-node protection" (security models, pp 122-3) at the expense of network-level protection is insufficient. Transitioning to IPv6 is also not as easy as IE2E implies, especially for multihomed sites with provider independent address space. (SHIM6 might not be sufficient or workable, and IPv6 doesn't have PIAS.)
The strongest aspect of IE2E is the thorough coverage of IPv6 protocols. Plenty of people like to point to very old TCP/IP books as "the Bibles" of networking, but the world has changed during the last decade. IE2E offers a very strong chapter on Mobile IPv6 and explains how that version is superior to IPv4 (mainly due to Route Optimization). Sylvia's SSH port forwarding trick (p 277) was obvious but something I hadn't considered previously -- very cool. IE2E manages to keep a readable size of around 400 pages by citing plenty of RFCs and drafts, which is smart given the state of the protocols. The book is also very up-to-date and technically accurate, as far as I could tell. I had a minor problem with the author's perceptions of threats and vulnerabilities at the start of the security chapter. She uses the former term but means the latter term.
If you want implementation details, such as commands to run and techniques to try, I recommend INA or RI. If you want to really understand IPv6, I recommend IE2E. Since you should ideally want both sets of skills, you should have at least two IPv6 books on your desk.
Postscript: I suggest the third edition offer the set of network traces featured in IE2E for download, so readers can look at them individually.
calvinnme said
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is a network layer standard used by electronic devices to exchange data across a packet-switched internetwork and is intended to provide more addresses for networked devices, allowing, for example, each cell phone and mobile electronic device to have its own address. IPv6 is actually capable of supporting 5×10^28 addresses for each of the roughly 6.5 billion people alive today.
This book covers a broad range of information about IPv6 and is an excellent resource for both managers and system engineers, since this book discusses economic and strategic aspects as well as technical details. This book is not a detailed guide for program developers. The book assumes that you already have a good understanding of network issues in general and a familiarity with IPv4. It makes generous use of tables and illustrations and is very accessible. Amazon does not show the table of contents so I review this book in the context of the table of contents:
Chapter 1 WHY IPV6?
Briefly explains the history of IPv6 and gives an overview of the new functionality. It shows that the large address space and the advanced functionality of IPv6 are much needed.
Chapter 2 THE STRUCTURE OF THE IPV6 PROTOCOL
Describes the new IPv6 header format with a discussion of each field and trace file examples. It also describes what Extension headers are, what types of Extension headers have been defined, and how they are used.
Chapter 3 IPV6 ADDRESSING
Explains the new address format, address notation, address types, international registry services, and prefix allocation.
Chapter 4 ICMPv6
Discusses how the health of the network is maintained and reported using ICMPv6. This chapter describes the new ICMPv6 message format, its error and informational messages, and the ICMPv6 header in the trace file. All of this leads to making a network administrator's life easier.
Chapter 5 SECURITY WITH IPV6
After a short discussion of basic security concepts and requirements, this chapter discusses the security elements available in IPv6 for authentication and encryption. Since future networks will require new security architectures, this chapter includes a description of a new model.
Chapter 6 QUALITY OF SERVICE
QoS elements available in IPv6 are presented as well as how to implement them. Different QoS architectures are also discussed.
Chapter 7 NETWORKING ASPECTS
Layer 2 support for IPv6 (Ethernet, Token Ring, ATM, frame relay, etc.), the mapping of multicast addresses to Layer 2 addresses, and the Detecting Network Attachment (DNA) working group are discussed.
Chapter 8 ROUTING PROTOCOLS
The advanced routing features of IPv6 and the available routing protocols such as RIPng, OSPFv3 for IPv6 are presented. Also mentioned are the BGP extensions for IPv6, IS-IS, and EIGRPv6.
Chapter 9 UPPER LAYER PROTOCOLS
Starting with changes for TCP and UDP, this chapter continues with a detailed discussion of the DHCPv6 specification, DNS extensions for IPv6, SLPv2 in IPv6 networks, FTP, Telnet, and web servers.
Chapter 10 INTEROPERABILITY
The different transition mechanisms that have been defined, such as dual-stack operation, tunneling, and translation techniques are explained. A broad variety of case studies show that IPv6 is mature enough to be used and how this can be done. The chapter also discusses what is still missing from the standard and the cost involved in implementing IPv6.
Chapter 11 MOBILE IPV6
This chapter explains why this technology will become the foundation for a new generation of mobile services.
Chapter 12 GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY
How to get started with IPv6 on different operating systems, such as Sun Solaris, Linux, BSD, Windows 2003, Windows XP, Mac OS, and a Cisco router. The most common IPv6 tools available for each operating system are discussed along with the author's lab activities and trace files.
Appendix A RFCs
Appendix B IPv6 RESOURCES
Summaries of all indexes, protocol numbers, message types, and address allocations.
Appendix C RECOMMENDED READING
R. Potti said
This is a very good book for IPv6. Covers almost everything on IPv6
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