On 12/21/2011 15:52, Bhatia, Manav (Manav) wrote:
> Hi Doug,
>
>>
>> Sort of surprised that no one else has responded so far, but I'll
>> bite. Quite simply, "no." Slightly less simply, "use DHCP since
>> that's what it's for."
>>
>
> I wish it were this simple.
Well good news for you then, it IS that simple. :)
> Different operators have different requirements and preferences based
> on their environments. I have seen deployments where SLAAC is much
> more useful than DHCPv6. I've seen deployments where DHCPv6 is
> needed. So both have a place and we should let the operators decide
> what they want to use.
Eloquent words, but they miss a central point. There is a huge cost
involved in implementing the same configuration information through
different mechanisms. Over strenuous objections DNS information was
added to RA and we're still dealing with the fallout. There are also
costs in the development and deployment areas. It's not like we can just
wave a magic wand and make all possibilities available to all the
players without any work involved.
> Environments with 4 to 20 devices in them
> (small businesses) may not want the complexity of setting up a
> central server. Those environments are probably more suited for
> SLAAC.
Show me the small business that doesn't already have a DHCP server baked
into their router/toaster, that doesn't "just work" with near-zero human
interaction.
> We have heard customers asking SLAAC to be extended to support NTP,
> "boot-file", "next-server" and a few other things that are currently
> only available with DHCP.
I'm asking for a pony. Hook me up. :)
> Currently, operators need to use both SLAAC and DHCP to run their
> networks. This is far from ideal.
This much I agree with.
> Far better for organizations to
> look at 2 complete solutions and pick the solution that works best
> for them in their environment.
Wrong answer. The right answer is for DHCPv6 to be a superset of RA so
that organizations that need more than RA provides only have to run
DHCP. As a free bonus, it's FAR easier to add one knob (default route)
to DHCPv6 than it is to add all features to RA. Extra bonus, the only
hurdles are political, not technical.
> Today, we can get NTP server information only with DHCP. DHCP only
> works after RAs have been processed. In some environments (mobile
> IPv6) delays in acquiring NTP and other servers information is
> critical and waiting for DHCP to come up is NOT an ideal solution.
See above.
Doug
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