IPTA architecture
ISAC's IPv4 to IPv6 Transition Appliance (IPTA) allows IPv4 systems to transparently utilize an existing IPv6 core network infrastructure and take advantage of IPv6 features such as encryption, authentication, Quality of Service (QoS), and an increased address space. IPTA will also provide additional security features such as firewall and whitelist capabilities.
Migrating from an IPv4 to an IPv6 infrastructure is complex, time consuming, and costly. Because IPv6 is not backwards compatible with IPv4, IPv4 systems may necessarily coexist with the IPv6 core network infrastructure for a long period of time.
IPTA addresses the cost and complexity of migrating from an IPv4 to an IPv6 infrastructure by removing the need to modify legacy IPv4 systems. Current transition schemes proposed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and others generally focus on allowing IPv6 systems to communicate with IPv4 systems. Further, these transition schemes often require modification of IPv4 end systems. IPTA will be designed in a way that IPv4 systems will be able to communicate with IPv6 systems without being aware that the IPTA is, in fact, facilitating this communication.
ISAC’s IPTA will:
- Provide the ability for IPv4 systems to take advantage of the IPv6 core network infrastructure
- Require minimal, if any, configuration
- Require no modification to the IPv4 systems
- Allow IPv4 systems to leverage IPv6 features such as Quality of Service and IPSec encryption and authentication
- Provide increased security by acting as a firewall and controlling with whom the IPv4 systems can communicate
- Be implemented on a hardware network processor to process network traffic at line speeds
ISAC POC: R. Patrick Gorman pat.gorman(at)isac-usa(dot)com
