Juniper Networks has released a new report, “IPv6 Capable: A Guide for Federal Agencies,” which provides technical guidance for all government agencies mandated to make the transition to IPv6 by 2008.

The report, which was written by the IPv6 Summit, Inc., is the second in Juniper’s “IPv6 Best Practices World Report” series, which aims to provide “extensive insight and counsel for federal agencies’ transition to IPv6.”

IPv6 is the next generation protocol which will create almost limitless IP addresses for the Internet. It succeeds the current protocol, IPv4, and is already in use on other parts of the world, including China. IPv6 holds great promise for the telecommunications industry as it will facilitate further advancements in IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem (News - Alert)), as well as solving a variety of potential congestion - and security-related problems on IP networks (some have even touted it as a remedy to the whole “net neutrality” dilemma).

The report will help government agencies understand and meet the technical goals based on their respective requirements and missions, while achieving the high-level objectives outlined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Highlights include an overview of IPv6’s technical necessity, the fundamental benefits between IPv4 and IPv6, and how to define “IPv6 Capable” to meet agencies’ individual requirements.

“The network performance and efficiency promised by IPv6 is a tremendous benefit for federal agencies,” said Thomas Kreidler, vice president and general manager of Juniper Federal Systems, in a press release. “However, there needs to be a greater level of tactical guidance to execute this vision at an agency-specific level under current budget constraints. We are committed to providing comprehensive, practical and dedicated support to help our customers transition their networks. This report is a first step in understanding the migration process from a technical perspective.”

John McManus, deputy CIO of NASA, discussed the OMB’s mandate and the need to customize the IPv6 transition at the agency level during a recent Federal Executive Forum on IPv6 panel, held in conjunction with the report’s launch.

“I think there's a good structure [from OMB] to keep us moving coherently in the appropriate direction, but each of the agencies has the flexibility to do what makes sense for them and apply the tactics that are going to get them the services they need, when they need them,” McManus said.

Numerous organizations contributed to the report, including government civilian and defense agencies, research and development networks, and private industry.

Additionally, the report received significant direction from organizations that have successfully implemented IPv6 in Asia and other areas of the globe.

The executive summary of the report can be downloaded at www.juniper.net/federal/IPv6.

For more information about Juniper Networks, visit www.juniper.net.

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Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.