If you want to learn the basics of IPv6 and its peripheral routing and transition protocols, there are a number of good books on the market. But what if you’re a software coder needing to work with IPv6, or want to understand its implementation in intimate detail?
For this, there is only one choice: The two-volume set by Qing Li, Tatuya Jinmei, and Keiichi Shima. These are the IPv6 equivalent of Steven’s TCP/IP Illustrated and Comer’s Internetworking with TCP/IP, books that should be on every networking professional’s bookshelf. Like the multi-volume Stevens and Comer books, these books go deep into the functional structures of an IPv6 implementation—in this case the KAME implementation for BSD.
The first volume, IPv6 Core Protocols Implementation, starts off with an overview of the KAME IPv6 distribution for BSD and how to build a KAME-enabled kernel; in little more than a dozen pages the book takes you directly into the code structure. From there the remainder of the book leads you through the core protocols from basic address architecture to ICMPv6 and Neighbor Discovery Protocol to the intricacies of IPv6 at the transport layer and socket API extensions.
The second volume, IPv6 Advanced Protocols Implementation, covers IPv6 routing protocols (through route6d), IPv6 multicast, DNS, and DHCPv6. The last two chapters of the book delve into Mobile IPv6 and the basics of IPv6 security.
While these books are a deep-dive into the code, they don’t assume you know IPv6; each chapter covers the basics of its topic before getting into the coding. So whether you are a coder needing to learn IPv6, a network architect wanting to know the IPv6 protocols more intimately, or just want a solid reference on your bookshelf for those times when the RFCs and general configuration guides just aren’t enough to troubleshoot an IPv6 problem, I highly recommend these books. There are no others to compare.
You can find more information about both books on my list of recommended reading.
