One of the many advantages of the test lab, discussed in the previous post, is that you can reveal aspects of your planned IPv6 implementation in which hardware or software support is either not yet available or is “not ready for prime time.” Armed with this information you can, depending on your priorities and funding, begin a search for a vendor that does meet your needs, pressure your existing vendor to bring his products into compliance with your requirements, or even (in the case of some software) build your own.
Already armed with the cost rough-in and timeframe rough-in from the Feasibility Study, plus the Inventory, both described in previous posts, and now with the results of your lab evaluations, you can establish accurate costs and set a realistic, detailed timeframe for your implementation project. (Remember that cost and risk can often influence a project time span, and vice versa.)
The project timeframe is of course bounded by the “start” and “end” milestones, and is also marked with major milestones along the way. One example of major milestones might be:
(1) Project start
(2) Core network implementation
(3) Management systems implementation
(4) Security systems implementation
(5) Backoffice systems implementation
(6) Aggregation systems implementation
(7) Edge systems implementation
(8) Public (IPv6 Internet) access implementation
(9) User implementation
(10) Project end
Each of these major milestones mark specific project components—sub-projects—and should embody their own set of milestones. And there could be sub-projects within the sub-projects: The depth of the project sub-levels is dictated by the complexity of the overall project. Everything should be broken down to simple, understandable, manageable tasks.
The milestones listed above are just one example of how a project could be organized, and indicates a particular methodology for migrating your network to IPv6. The methodology indicated here is a “core to edge” strategy; you might, depending on your own requirements, implement an “edge to core” strategy, an area-based strategy in which designated portions of the network are migrated, or even a “flash cut” strategy where IPv6 is implemented over the entire network in a very short time.
While each of these approaches can have their justifications, my own opinion is that the “core to edge” strategy is almost always the best. Here’s why:
- Implementing IPv6 in the core is usually the easiest step because core equipment is the most likely to already have IPv6 capabilities, and because the IPv6 functional demands on the network core are usually simpler. Therefore you are grabbing the low-hanging fruit first.
- Working incrementally from the core outwards gives your operations staff time to gain experience in a step-by-step manner, tackling the easy parts first and moving to more challenging parts. This lowers the project risk.
- Because your users at the edge do not “touch” IPv6 until the end of the project, you can increase your assurance that the network is ready for them. This again decreases project risk, helps insure that the implementation is transparent to the user (Remember, your users don’t care about IPv6 and probably don’t know what it is, they just care about the network’s ability to deliver the services they need!), and minimizes user calls to the support center—thereby lowering cost.
- Because public IPv6 Internet access is implemented late in the project, you have longer to research and resolve the more complex IPv4/IPv6 interoperability issues involved at this step.
Always remember that risk control and cost control are essential to the success of any migration project; a long, incremental time frame that moves from the easy elements to the difficult elements helps you control both.
In the next post I’ll discuss IPv6 training plans.
Network World and I are going to try something new: A live hosted chat in which you can pose questions and I’ll do my best to answer in real time.
Join me for this live chat on August 1, at 2PM Eastern (18:00 GMT). No registration is required; just point your browser to:
www.networkworld.com/chat
I hope to “see” you there!
