IP version 6 (IPv6) Network Audit
IPv6 Consultancy – Compliance and Network Audit
The IPv6 network audit from activereach will provide you with an experienced technical consultant who will come to your nominated site(s) and investigate the following issues essential to your capability to migrate to IPv6:
Internet connectivity
activereach will speak to your ISP in technical terms they understand and find out their real current IPv6 capabilities. The level of capability on offer will help decide how best to deploy IPv6 on your Internet gateway. Some ISPs already offer IPv6 natively whereas others may require customers to tunnel IPv6 traffic through existing IPv4 infrastructure. Based on your findings, activereach can advise on the best method to connect from your existing IPv4 network to IPv6 hosts.
Router, Firewalls and Switches
Most recent networking hardware is capable of supporting IPv6 configurations dependant on the version of operating system installed and the hardware capabilities of the device. The operating system version of each device will be audited and if required, recommendations will be put forward for an alternative version that includes IPv6 support.
The actual configuration of the devices will also be audited to provide general advice on the current routing, management, remote access and security policies. As a matter of course, this will focus on your current IPv4 exposures.
Branch office connections and remote access
Once ISPs have used up their remaining allocated IPv4 address space they will have no option but to allocate IPv6 address space to new organisations or new network locations. A new site with IPv6 address space may therefore require access to your network. The audit will include an investigation of the current remote access policies and our engineers will advise on how best to allow remote connectivity from IPv6 enabled sites.
We will also consider how ready you are to provide services to the rest of your company branch offices (and where appropriate your external partners, suppliers, and customer base) if you were to adopt IPv6. How will existing IPv4 customers access your new address space?
Your approach to allowing the outside world to email you over IPv6, and allowing your colleagues to respond, depends of course on the way in which your email is currently configured. The current email setup will be audited and recommendations on how best to incorporate IPv6 support will be put forward.
DNS
The IPv6 equivalent of the IPv4 A record is the AAAA record (known as the “quad A”). In making your organisation visible to the rest of the world over IPv6, you and your service providers will of course have to make sure the DNS is set up appropriately. Our engineers will review all existing DNS records, and means of resolution, making recommendations accordingly.
Workstations, servers and printers
Every platform, operating system and application must be assessed to determine its IPv6 capability.
IP numbering scheme design and DHCP services
Your current IP networking scheme will be reviewed and a strategy will be proposed on how best to adopt an IPv6 based network address scheme.
How it Works – IPv6 network audit
The activereach technical consultant will speak to you prior to the visit to ensure that the visit is tailored to your specific site needs so that you get the maximum benefit from the visit.
A report on the findings and recommendations will be made available to you within a week of the visit. A follow up visit will be made to present the findings and assist you in understanding the impact.
To find out more about IPv6 consultancy or to arrange an IPv6 network audit with activereach, please call a Networking & Security Specialist on 0845 625 9025.