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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                       T. AndersonRequest for Comments: 7755                                Redpill LinproCategory: Informational                                    February 2016ISSN: 2070-1721SIIT-DC: Stateless IP/ICMP Translation for IPv6 Data Center EnvironmentsAbstract   This document describes the use of the Stateless IP/ICMP Translation   Algorithm (SIIT) in an IPv6 Internet Data Center (IDC).  In this   deployment model, traffic from legacy IPv4-only clients on the   Internet is translated to IPv6 upon reaching the IDC operator's   network infrastructure.  From that point on, it may be treated the   same as traffic from native IPv6 end users.  The IPv6 endpoints may   be numbered using arbitrary (non-IPv4-translatable) IPv6 addresses.   This facilitates a single-stack IPv6-only network infrastructure, as   well as efficient utilization of public IPv4 addresses.   The primary audience is IDC operators who are deploying IPv6, running   out of available IPv4 addresses, and/or feeling that dual stack   causes undesirable operational complexity.Status of This Memo   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is   published for informational purposes.   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has   received public review and has been approved for publication by the   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not all documents   approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet   Standard; seeSection 2 of RFC 5741.   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained athttp://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7755.Anderson                      Informational                     [Page 1]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 2016Copyright Notice   Copyright (c) 2016 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the   document authors.  All rights reserved.   This document is subject toBCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of   publication of this document.  Please review these documents   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as   described in the Simplified BSD License.Table of Contents1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31.1.  Single-Stack IPv6 Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31.2.  Stateless Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41.3.  IPv4 Address Conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4     1.4.  Clients' IPv4 Source Addresses Visible to Applications  .   51.5.  Compatible with Standard IPv4 and IPv6 Stacks . . . . . .52.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63.  Architectural Overview  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83.1.  Packet Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94.  Deployment Considerations and Guidelines  . . . . . . . . . .104.1.  Application/Device Support for IPv6 . . . . . . . . . . .104.2.  Application Support for NAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104.3.  Application Communication Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . .104.4.  Choice of Translation Prefix  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114.5.  Routing Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124.6.  Location of the SIIT-DC Border Relays . . . . . . . . . .124.7.  Migration from Dual Stack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134.8.  Translation of ICMPv6 Errors to IPv4  . . . . . . . . . .134.9.  MTU and Fragmentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134.9.1.  IPv4/IPv6 Header Size Difference  . . . . . . . . . .144.9.2.  IPv6 Atomic Fragments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144.9.3.  Minimum Path MTU Difference between IPv4 and IPv6 . .154.10. IPv4-Translatable IPv6 Service Addresses  . . . . . . . .165.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17     5.1.  Mistaking the Translation Prefix for a Trusted Network  .  176.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18Appendix A.  Complete SIIT-DC IDC Topology Example  . . . . . . .21   Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Anderson                      Informational                     [Page 2]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 20161.  Introduction   Historically, dual stack [RFC4213] [RFC6883] has been the recommended   way to transition from a legacy IPv4-only environment to one capable   of serving IPv6 users.  However, for IDC operators, dual-stack   operation has a number of disadvantages compared to single-stack   operation.  In particular, running two protocols rather than one   results in increased complexity and operational overhead with little   return on investment for as long as large parts of the public   Internet remains predominantly IPv4 only.  Furthermore, the dual-   stack approach does not in any way help with the depletion of the   IPv4 address space, which at the time of writing is a pressing   concern in most parts of the world.   Therefore, some IDC operators may instead prefer an approach in which   they only need to operate one protocol in the data center as they   prepare for the future.  Stateless IP/ICMP Translation for IPv6 Data   Center Environments (SIIT-DC) is one such approach.  Its design goals   include:   o  Promote the deployment of native IPv6 services (cf. [RFC6540]).   o  Provide IPv4 service availability for legacy users with no loss of      performance or functionality.   o  Ensure that the legacy users' IPv4 addresses remain visible to the      nodes and applications located in the IPv6 network.   o  Conserve and maximize the utilization of the operator's public      IPv4 addresses.   o  Avoid introducing more complexity than absolutely necessary,      especially on the nodes and applications.   o  Easy to scale and deploy in a fault-tolerant manner.   The following subsections elaborate on how SIIT-DC meets these goals.1.1.  Single-Stack IPv6 Operation   SIIT-DC allows IDC operators to build their infrastructure and   applications on an IPv6-only foundation.  IPv4 end-user connectivity   becomes a service provided by the network, which systems   administration and application development staff do not need to   concern themselves with.  This promotes universal IPv6 deployment for   the IDC operator's services and applications.Anderson                      Informational                     [Page 3]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 2016   SIIT-DC requires no special support or change from the underlying   IPv6 infrastructure; it is compatible with all standard IPv6   networks.  Traffic between IPv6-enabled end users and IPv6-enabled   services will always be transported native end to end; SIIT-DC does   not intercept or handle native IPv6 traffic at all.   When the day comes to discontinue all support for IPv4, no change   needs to be made to the overall architecture -- it's only a matter of   shutting off the SIIT-DC Border Relays (BRs).  Operators who deploy   native IPv6 along with SIIT-DC will thus avoid requiring any future   migration or deployment projects relating to IPv6 deployment and/or   IPv4 sunsetting.1.2.  Stateless Operation   Unlike other solutions that provide either dual-stack availability to   single-stack services (e.g., Stateful Network Address and Protocol   Translation from IPv6 Clients to IPv4 Servers (NAT64) [RFC6146] and   Layer 4/7 proxies) or conservation of IPv4 addresses (e.g., IPv4   address translation (NAPT44) [RFC3022]), SIIT-DC does not maintain   any state associated with individual connections or flows.  In this   sense, it operates exactly like a regular IP router and has similar   scaling properties -- the limiting factors are packets per second and   bandwidth.  The number of concurrent flows and flow initiation rates   are irrelevant for performance.   This not only allows individual BRs to easily attain "line-rate"   performance, but it also allows for per-packet load balancing between   multiple BRs using Equal-Cost Multipath Routing [RFC2991].   Asymmetric routing is also acceptable, which makes it easy to avoid   suboptimal traffic patterns; the prefixes involved may be anycasted   from all the BRs in the provider's network, thus ensuring that the   most optimal path through the network is used, even where the optimal   path in one direction differs from the optimal path in the opposite   direction.   Finally, stateless operation means that high availability is easily   achieved.  If a BR should fail, its traffic can be rerouted onto   another BR using a standard IP routing protocol.  This does not   impact existing flows any more than what any other IP rerouting event   would.1.3.  IPv4 Address Conservation   In most parts of the world, it is difficult or even impossible to   obtain generously sized IPv4 delegations from the Internet Numbers   Registry System [RFC7020].  The resulting scarcity in turn impacts   individual end users and operators, whom might be forced to purchaseAnderson                      Informational                     [Page 4]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 2016   IPv4 addresses from other operators in order to cover their needs.   This process can be risky to business continuity, in the case where   no suitable block for sale can be located, and/or turn out to be   prohibitively expensive.  In spite of this, an IDC operator will find   that providing IPv4 service remains essential, as a large share of   the Internet end users still do not have IPv6 connectivity.   A key goal of SIIT-DC is to help reduce a data center operator's IPv4   address requirement to the absolute minimum by allowing the operator   to remove them entirely from nodes and applications that do not need   to communicate with endpoints in the IPv4 Internet.  One example   would be servers that are operating in a supporting/backend role and   only communicating with other servers (database servers, file   servers, and so on).  Another example would be the network   infrastructure itself (router-to-router links, loopback addresses,   and so on).  Furthermore, as LAN prefix sizes must always be rounded   up to the nearest power of two (or larger if one reserves space for   future growth), even more IPv4 addresses will often end up being   wasted without even being used.   With SIIT-DC, the operator can remove these valuable IPv4 addresses   from his backend servers and network infrastructure and reassign them   to the SIIT-DC service as IPv4 Service Addresses.  There exists no   requirement that IPv4 Service Addresses are to be assigned in an   aggregated manner, so there is nothing lost due to infrastructure   overhead; every single IPv4 address assigned to SIIT-DC can be used   as an IPv4 Service Address.1.4.  Clients' IPv4 Source Addresses Visible to Applications   SIIT-DC uses the [RFC6052] algorithm to map the entire end-user's   IPv4 source address into a predefined IPv6 translation prefix.  This   ensures that there is no loss of information; the end-user's IPv4   source address remains available to the application located in the   IPv6 network, allowing it to perform tasks like geolocation, logging,   abuse handling, and so forth.1.5.  Compatible with Standard IPv4 and IPv6 Stacks   Except for the introduction of the BRs themselves, no change to the   network, nodes, applications, or anything else is required in order   to support SIIT-DC.  SIIT-DC is practically invisible from the point   of view of the IPv4 clients, the IPv6 nodes, the IPv6 data center   network, and the IPv4 Internet.  SIIT-DC interoperates with all   standards-compliant IPv4 or IPv6 stacks.Anderson                      Informational                     [Page 5]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 20162.  Terminology   This document makes use of the following terms:   SIIT-DC Border Relay (BR):      A device or a logical function that performs stateless protocol      translation between IPv4 and IPv6.  It MUST do so in accordance      with [RFC6145] and [RFC7757].   SIIT-DC Edge Relay (ER):      A device or logical function that provides "native" IPv4      connectivity to IPv4-only devices or application software.  It is      very similar in function to a BR but is typically located close to      the IPv4-only component(s) it is supporting rather than on the      IDC's outer network border.  The ER is an optional component of      SIIT-DC.  It is discussed in more detail in [RFC7756].   IPv4 Service Address:      An IPv4 address representing a node or service located in an IPv6      network.  It is coupled with an IPv6 Service Address using an      Explicit Address Mapping (EAM).  Packets sent to this address are      translated to IPv6 by the BR, and possibly back to IPv4 by an ER,      before reaching the node or service.   IPv4 Service Address Pool:      One or more IPv4 prefixes routed to the BR's IPv4 interface.  IPv4      Service Addresses are allocated from this pool.  This does not      necessarily have to be a "pool" per se, as it could also be one or      more host routes (whose prefix lengths are equal to /32).  The      purpose of using a pool rather than host routes is to facilitate      IPv4 route aggregation and ease provisioning of new IPv4 Service      Addresses.   IPv6 Service Address:      An IPv6 address assigned to an application, node, or service      either directly or indirectly (through an ER).  It is coupled with      an IPv4 Service Address using an EAM.  IPv4-only clients      communicate with the IPv6 Service Address through SIIT-DC.   Explicit Address Mapping (EAM):      A bidirectional coupling between an IPv4 Service Address and an      IPv6 Service Address configured in a BR or ER.  When translating      between IPv4 and IPv6, the BR/ER changes the address fields in the      translated packet's IP header according to any matching EAM.  The      EAM algorithm is specified in [RFC7757].Anderson                      Informational                     [Page 6]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 2016   Translation Prefix:      An IPv6 prefix into which the entire IPv4 address space is mapped,      according to the algorithm in [RFC6052].  The translation prefix      is routed to the BR's IPv6 interface.  When translating between      IPv4 and IPv6, a BR/ER will insert/remove the translation prefix      into/from the address fields in the translated packet's IP header,      unless an EAM exists for the IP address that is being translated.   IPv4-Translatable IPv6 Addresses:      As defined inSection 1.3 of [RFC6052].   IDC:      Short for "Internet Data Center"; a data center whose main purpose      is to deliver services to the public Internet.  SIIT-DC is      primarily targeted at being deployed in an IDC.  An IDC is      typically operated by an Internet Content Provider or a Managed      Services Provider.   SIIT:      The Stateless IP/ICMP Translation Algorithm, as specified in      [RFC6145].   XLAT:      Short for "Translation".  Used in figures to indicate where a BR/      ER uses SIIT [RFC6145] to translate IPv4 packets to IPv6 and vice      versa.   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this   document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].Anderson                      Informational                     [Page 7]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 20163.  Architectural Overview   This section describes the basic SIIT-DC architecture.              IPv6-capable user      IPv4-only user              <2001:db8::ab:cd>      <203.0.113.50>                |                          |             (the IPv6 Internet)   (the IPv4 Internet)                |                          |                |  +-[BR]---------<192.0.2.0/24>--------------+                |  |                                          |                |  | EAM #1:      192.0.2.1,2001:db8:12:34::1 |                |  | EAM #2..#n:  [...]                       |                |  | XLAT Prefix: 2001:db8:46::/96            |                |  |                                          |                |  +------------<2001:db8:46::/96>------------+                |                        |               (the IPv6-only data center network)                           |            +--<2001:db8:12:34::1>--[v6-only server]-+            |     |                                  |            | +-[2001:db8:12:34::1]--[v6-only app]-+ |            | |   AF_INET6 socket                  | |            | +------------------------------------+ |            +----------------------------------------+                      Figure 1: SIIT-DC Architecture   In Figure 1, 192.0.2.0/24 is the IPv4 Service Address Pool.   Individual IPv4 Service Addresses are assigned from this prefix, and   traffic destined for it is routed to the BR's IPv4-facing network   interface.  There are no restrictions on how many IPv4 Service   Address Pools are used or their prefix length, as long as they are   all routed to the BR's IPv4-facing network interface.   When translating packets between IPv4 and IPv6, the BR uses EAM #1 to   replace any occurrence of the IPv4 Service Address (192.0.2.1) with   its corresponding IPv6 Service Address (2001:db8:12:34::1).   Addresses that do not match any EAM configured in the BR are   translated by inserting or removing the translation prefix   (2001:db8:46::/96); cf.Section 2.2 of [RFC6052].   The BR can be deployed as a separate device or as a logical function   in another multipurpose device, such as an IP router.  Any number of   BRs may exist simultaneously in the IDC's network infrastructure, as   long as they are all configured with the same translation prefix and   an identical EAM Table.Anderson                      Informational                     [Page 8]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 2016   The IPv6 Service Address should be registered in DNS using an "IN   AAAA" record, while its corresponding IPv4 Service Address should be   registered using an "IN A" record.  This ensures that IPv6-capable   clients access the application/service directly using native IPv6 end   to end, while IP4-only clients will access it through SIIT-DC.3.1.  Packet Flow   In this example, the "IPv4-only user" from Figure 1 initiates a   connection to the application running on the IPv6-only server.  After   first having looked up the "IN A" record in DNS, the user starts by   transmitting a TCP SYN packet to the IPv4 Service Address.  This IPv4   packet is routed to the BR and is there translated to IPv6 as   follows:        +--[IPv4]----------+     +--[IPv6]-----------------------+        | SRC 203.0.113.50 |     | SRC 2001:db8:46::203.0.113.50 |        | DST 192.0.2.1    | --> | DST 2001:db8:12:34::1         |        | TCP SYN [..]     |     | TCP SYN [..]                  |        +------------------+     +-------------------------------+                    Figure 2: IPv4-to-IPv6 Translation   The resulting IPv6 packet is routed to the IPv6-only server, which   processes and responds to it as if it had been a native IPv6 packet   all along.  The server's IPv6 response packet is then routed back to   the BR, where it is translated back to IPv4 as follows:        +--[IPv6]-----------------------+      +--[IPv4]----------+        | SRC 2001:db8:12:34::1         |      | SRC 192.0.2.1    |        | DST 2001:db8:46::203.0.113.50 | -->  | DST 203.0.113.50 |        | TCP SYN/ACK [..]              |      | TCP SYN/ACK [..] |        +-------------------------------+      +------------------+                    Figure 3: IPv6-to-IPv4 Translation   It is important to note that neither the IPv4 client nor the IPv6   server/application need any special support to participate in   SIIT-DC.  However, the application may optionally be taught to   extract the embedded IPv4 source address from incoming IPv6 packets   with source addresses within the translation prefix.  This will allow   it to perform IPv4-specific tasks such as geolocation, logging, abuse   handling, and so on.Anderson                      Informational                     [Page 9]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 20164.  Deployment Considerations and Guidelines4.1.  Application/Device Support for IPv6   SIIT-DC as described in this document requires that the application   (and/or the node the application is located on) supports IPv6   networking and that it has no dependency on local IPv4 network   connectivity.   SIIT-DC can, however, support legacy IPv4-dependent applications and   nodes through the introduction of an ER.  The ER provides the legacy   application or node with seemingly native IPv4 Internet connectivity,   so that it may operate correctly in an otherwise IPv6-only network   environment.  This approach is described in more detail in [RFC7756].4.2.  Application Support for NAT   The operator should carefully examine whether or not the application   protocols he would like to use SIIT-DC with are able to operate in a   network environment where rewriting of IP addresses occurs.  In   general, if an application-layer protocol works correctly through   standard NAT44 (see [RFC3235]), it will most likely work correctly   through SIIT-DC as well.   Higher-level protocols that embed IP addresses as part of their   payload are particularly problematic [RFC2663] [RFC2993] [RFC3022].   One well-known example of such a protocol is FTP [RFC959].  Such   protocols can be made to work with SIIT-DC through the introduction   of an ER, which provides end-to-end IPv4 address transparency by   reversing the translations performed by the BR before passing the   packets to the NAT-incompatible application.  This approach is   described in more detail in [RFC7756].4.3.  Application Communication Pattern   SIIT-DC is best suited for traditional client/server applications   where IPv4-only clients on the Internet initiate traffic towards an   IPv6-only service, which in turn is passively listening for inbound   traffic and responding as necessary.  In this case, an IPv4 client   looks exactly like a native IPv6 client from the IPv6 service's point   of view and thus does not require any special treatment.  One   particularly common application protocol that follows this client/   server communication pattern, and thus is ideally suited for use with   SIIT-DC, is HTTP [RFC7230].Anderson                      Informational                    [Page 10]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 2016   It is also possible to combine SIIT-DC with DNS64 [RFC6147] in order   to allow an IPv6-only application to initiate communication with   IPv4-only nodes through SIIT-DC.  However, in this case, care must be   taken so that all outgoing communication is sourced from an IPv6   Service Address that is found in an EAM configured in the BR.  If   another address is used, the BR will most likely be unable to   translate it to IPv4, causing the packet to be discarded.  This could   be prevented by altering the Default Address Selection Policy   Table [RFC6724] on the IPv6 node.   An alternative approach to the above would be to place an ER in front   of the application in question, as described in [RFC7756].  This   provides the application with seemingly native IPv4 connectivity,   which it may use freely for bidirectional communication with the IPv4   Internet.  An application or node located behind an ER does not need   to worry about selecting a specific source address, as it will only   have valid options available.4.4.  Choice of Translation Prefix   Either a Network-Specific Prefix (NSP) from the provider's own IPv6   address space or the IANA-allocated Well-Known Prefix (WKP)   64:ff9b::/96 may be used.  From a technical point of view, both work   equally well.  However, only a single WKP exists, so if a provider   would like to deploy more than one instance of SIIT-DC in his   network, or another translation technology such as Stateful NAT64   [RFC6146], the operator will be forced to use an NSP for all but one   of those deployments.   Another consideration is that the WKP cannot be used in inter-domain   routing.  By using an NSP instead, SIIT-DC will support a deployment   where the BR and the IPv6 Service Address are located in different   Autonomous Systems.   The translation prefix may use any of the lengths described inSection 2.2 of [RFC6052], but /96 has two distinct advantages over   the others.  First, converting it to IPv4 can be done in a single   operation by simply stripping off the first 96 bits; second, it   allows for IPv4 addresses to be embedded directly into the text   representation of an IPv6 address using the familiar dotted quad   notation, e.g., "2001:db8::198.51.100.10" (cf.Section 2.4 of   [RFC6052]), instead of being converted to hexadecimal notation.  This   makes it easier to write literal IPv6 addresses (e.g., in ACLs) that   correspond to translated endpoints in the IPv4 Internet.   For the reasons discussed above, this document recommends that an NSP   with a prefix length of /96 be used.Section 3.3 of [RFC6052]   discusses the choice of the translation prefix in more detail.Anderson                      Informational                    [Page 11]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 20164.5.  Routing Considerations   The prefixes that constitute the IPv4 Service Address Pool and the   IPv6 translation prefix may be routed to the BRs like any other IPv4   or IPv6 route in the provider's network.  If more than one BR is   being deployed, it is recommended that a routing protocol (IGP) be   used to advertise the routes within the provider's network.  This   will ensure that the traffic that is to be translated will reach the   closest BR, reducing or eliminating suboptimal traffic patterns as   well as providing high availability: should one BR fail, the IGP will   automatically redirect the traffic to the closest alternate BR.4.6.  Location of the SIIT-DC Border Relays   The goal of SIIT-DC is to facilitate a true IPv6-only application and   network architecture, with the sole exception being the IPv4   interfaces of the BRs and the network infrastructure required to   connect the BRs to the IPv4 Internet.  Therefore, the BRs must be   located somewhere between the IPv4 Internet and the application   delivery stack, which includes all servers, load balancers,   firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and similar devices that are   processing traffic to a greater extent than merely forwarding it.   It is optimal to place the BRs as close as possible to the direct   path between the location of the IPv6 Service Address and the end   users.  If the closest BR was located a long way from the direct   path, all packets in both directions must make a detour in order to   traverse the BR.  This would increase the RTT between the service and   the end user by two times the extra latency incurred by the detour,   as well as cause unnecessary load on the network links on the detour   path.   Where possible, it is beneficial to implement the BRs as a logical   function within the routers that also handle the native IPv6 traffic   between the IPv6 Service Address and the IPv6 Internet.  This way, an   SIIT-DC deployment does not require separate networks ports (which   might become saturated and impact the service quality) nor will it   require extra rack space and energy.  Some particularly good choices   for the location could be within the IDC's access routers or within   the Autonomous System's border routers.   Finally, another possibility is that the IDC operator outsources the   SIIT-DC service to another entity, for example, his upstream ISP.   Doing so allows the IDC operator to build a true IPv6-only   infrastructure.Anderson                      Informational                    [Page 12]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 20164.7.  Migration from Dual Stack   While this document mainly discusses the use of IPv6-only nodes and   applications, it is important to note that SIIT-DC is fully   compatible with dual-stack infrastructures, including dual-stack   nodes and applications.   Thus, migrating a dual-stacked service to an IPv6-only one where   SIIT-DC provides the IPv4 Internet connectivity is easy.  The   operator would start out by designating the service's current native   IPv6 address as the IPv6 Service Address and assigning it a   corresponding IPv4 Service Address.  At this point, the service will   respond on both its old (native) IPv4 address and the SIIT-DC IPv4   Service Address.  The operator may now move traffic from the former   to the latter by changing the service's "IN A" DNS record.  Once all   IPv4 traffic has been successfully moved to SIIT-DC, the old IPv4   address may be reclaimed.4.8.  Translation of ICMPv6 Errors to IPv4   In response to an IPv4 packet subsequently translated to IPv6 by the   BR, an IPv6 router in the IDC network may need to transmit an ICMPv6   error back to the origin IPv4 node.  By default, such an ICMPv6 error   will most likely be discarded by the BR, unless the source address of   the ICMPv6 error happens to be an IPv4-translatable IPv6 address or   covered by an EAM.   To facilitate reliable delivery of such ICMPv6 errors, an SIIT-DC   operator SHOULD implement the recommendations in [RFC6791] in the   BRs.4.9.  MTU and Fragmentation   There are some key differences between IPv4 and IPv6 relating to   packet sizes and fragmentation that one MUST consider when deploying   SIIT-DC.  They result in a few problematic corner cases, which can be   dealt with in a few different ways.  The following subsections will   discuss these in detail and provide operational guidance.   In particular, the operator may find that relying on fragmentation in   the IPv6 domain is undesired or even operationally impossible   [FRAGMENTS].  For this reason, the recommendations in this section   seek to minimize the use of IPv6 fragmentation.   Unless otherwise stated, the following subsections assume that the   MTUs in both the IPv4 and IPv6 domains are 1500 bytes.Anderson                      Informational                    [Page 13]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 20164.9.1.  IPv4/IPv6 Header Size Difference   The IPv6 header is up to 20 bytes larger than the IPv4 header.  This   means that a full-size 1500 bytes large IPv4 packet cannot be   translated to IPv6 without being fragmented, otherwise it would   likely have resulted in a 1520 bytes large IPv6 packet.   If the transport protocol used is TCP, this is generally not a   problem; the IPv6 node will advertise a TCP Maximum Segment Size   (MSS) of 1440 bytes during the initial TCP handshake.  This causes   the IPv4 clients to never send larger packets than what can be   translated to a single full-size IPv6 packet, eliminating any need   for fragmentation.   For other transport protocols, full-size IPv4 packets with the Don't   Fragment (DF) flag cleared will need to be fragmented by the BR.   This may be avoided by increasing the Path MTU between the BR and the   IPv6 nodes to 1520 bytes or greater.  If this is done, the MTU on the   IPv6 nodes themselves SHOULD NOT be increased accordingly, as doing   so would cause them to undergo Path MTU Discovery for all   destinations on the IPv6 Internet.  The nodes MUST, however, be able   to accept and process incoming packets larger than their own MTU.  If   the nodes' IPv6 implementation allows the initial Path MTU to be set   differently for specific destinations, it MAY be increased to 1520   for destinations within the translation prefix specifically.4.9.2.  IPv6 Atomic Fragments   In keeping with the fifth paragraph ofSection 4 of [RFC6145], a   stateless translator like a BR will by default add an IPv6   Fragmentation header to the resulting IPv6 packet when translating an   IPv4 packet with the DF flag set to 0.  This happens even though the   resulting IPv6 packet isn't actually fragmented into several pieces,   resulting in an IPv6 Atomic Fragment [RFC6946].  These Atomic   Fragments are generally not useful in an IDC environment, and it is   therefore recommended that this behavior be disabled in the BRs.  To   this end,Section 4 of [RFC6145] notes that the "translator MAY   provide a configuration function that allows the translator not to   include the Fragment Header for the non-fragmented IPv6 packets."   Note that work is currently in progress (in [RFC6145bis]) to   deprecate IPv6 Atomic Fragments.  As a result, a BR that conforms to   that document is required to behave as recommended above.   In IPv6, the Identification value is located inside the Fragmentation   header.  That means that if the generation of IPv6 Atomic FragmentsAnderson                      Informational                    [Page 14]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 2016   is disabled, the IPv4 Identification value will be lost during   translation to IPv6.  This could potentially confuse some diagnostic   tools.4.9.3.  Minimum Path MTU Difference between IPv4 and IPv6Section 5 of [RFC2460] specifies that the minimum IPv6 link MTU is   1280 bytes.  Therefore, an IPv6 node can reasonably assume that if it   transmits an IPv6 packet that is 1280 bytes or smaller, it is   guaranteed to reach its destination without requiring fragmentation   or invoking the Path MTU Discovery algorithm [RFC1981].  However,   this assumption might prove false if the destination is an IPv4 node   reached through a protocol translator such as a BR, as the minimum   IPv4 link MTU is 68 bytes.  SeeSection 3.2 of [RFC791].Section 5.1 of [RFC6145] specifies that a stateless translator should   set the IPv4 Don't Fragment flag to 1 when it translates a   non-fragmented IPv6 packet to IPv4.  This means that when the path to   the destination IPv4 node contains an IPv4 link with an MTU smaller   than 1260 bytes (which corresponds to an IPv6 MTU smaller than 1280   bytes; cf.Section 4.9.1), the Path MTU Discovery algorithm will be   invoked, even if the original IPv6 packet was only 1280 bytes large.   This happens as a result of the IPv4 router connecting to the IPv4   link with the small MTU returning an ICMPv4 Need To Fragment error   with an MTU value smaller than 1260, which in turn is translated by   the BR to an ICMPv6 Packet Too Big error with an MTU value smaller   than 1280, which is then transmitted to the origin IPv6 node.   When an IPv6 node receives an ICMPv6 Packet Too Big error indicating   an MTU value smaller than 1280, it is not allowed to reduce its Path   MTU estimation to the indicated value.  It must instead include a   Fragmentation header in subsequent packets sent on that path   [RFC1981].  In other words, the IPv6 node will start emitting Atomic   Fragments.  The Fragmentation header signals to the BR that the Don't   Fragment flag should be set to 0 in the resulting IPv4 packet, and it   also provides the Identification value.   If the use of the IPv6 Fragmentation header is problematic, the   operator should consider enabling the functionality described as the   "second approach" inSection 6 of [RFC6145].  This functionality   changes the BR's behavior as follows:   o  When translating ICMPv4 Need To Fragment to ICMPv6 Packet Too Big,      the resulting packet will never contain an MTU value lower than      1280.  This prevents the IPv6 nodes from generating Atomic      Fragments.Anderson                      Informational                    [Page 15]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 2016   o  When translating IPv6 packets smaller than or equal to 1280 bytes,      the Don't Fragment flag in the resulting IPv4 packet will be set      to 0.  This ensures that in the eventuality that the path contains      an IPv4 link with an MTU smaller than 1260, the IPv4 router      connected to that link will have the responsibility to fragment      the packet before forwarding it towards its destination.   In summary, this approach could be seen as prompting the IPv4   protocol itself to provide the "link-specific fragmentation and   reassembly at a layer below IPv6" required for links that "cannot   convey a 1280-octet packet in one piece", to paraphraseSection 5 of   [RFC2460].   Note that work is currently in progress (in [RFC6145bis]) to   deprecate IPv6 Atomic Fragments.  As a result, a BR that conforms to   that document is required to behave as suggested above.4.10.  IPv4-Translatable IPv6 Service Addresses   SIIT-DC is designed so that the IPv6 Service Addresses are not   required to be IPv4-translatable IPv6 addresses.Section 2 of   [RFC7757] discusses why it is desirable to avoid requiring the use of   IPv4-translatable IPv6 addresses.   It is, however, quite possible to deploy SIIT-DC in combination with   IPv4-translatable IPv6 Service Addresses.  The primary benefits in   doing so are:   o  The operator is not required to provision EAMs for      IPv4-translatable IPv6 Service Addresses onto the BR/ERs.   o  [RFC6145] translation can be performed in a checksum-neutral      manner; cf.Section 4.1 of [RFC6052].   The trade-off is that the IPv4-translatable IPv6 Service Addresses   must be configured on the IPv6 nodes, and the applications must be   set up to use them -- likely in addition to their primary   (non-IPv4-translatable) IPv6 addresses.  The IPv4-translatable IPv6   Service Addresses must also be routed from the BR through the IDC's   IPv6 network infrastructure to the nodes on which they are assigned.   This essentially requires the entire IPv6 infrastructure to be made   aware of and handle translated IPv4 traffic as a special case, which   significantly increases complexity.  As previously described inSection 1.1, avoiding such drawbacks is a design goal of SIIT-DC.   The use of IPv4-translatable IPv6 Service Addresses is therefore   discouraged.Anderson                      Informational                    [Page 16]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 20165.  Security Considerations5.1.  Mistaking the Translation Prefix for a Trusted Network   If a Network-Specific Prefix from the provider's own address space is   chosen for the translation prefix, as recommended inSection 4.4,   care MUST be taken if the translation service is used in front of   services that have application-level ACLs that distinguish between   the operator's own networks and the Internet at large, as traffic   from translated IPv4 end users on the Internet might appear to be   originating from the provider's own network.  It is therefore   important that the translation prefix be treated the same as the   Internet at large rather than as a trusted network.   In order to alleviate this problem, the operator may opt to use a   translation prefix that is distinct from and not a subset of the IPv6   prefixes used elsewhere in the network infrastructure.6.  References6.1.  Normative References   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate              Requirement Levels",BCP 14,RFC 2119,              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.   [RFC6052]  Bao, C., Huitema, C., Bagnulo, M., Boucadair, M., and X.              Li, "IPv6 Addressing of IPv4/IPv6 Translators",RFC 6052,              DOI 10.17487/RFC6052, October 2010,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6052>.   [RFC6145]  Li, X., Bao, C., and F. Baker, "IP/ICMP Translation              Algorithm",RFC 6145, DOI 10.17487/RFC6145, April 2011,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6145>.   [RFC6791]  Li, X., Bao, C., Wing, D., Vaithianathan, R., and G.              Huston, "Stateless Source Address Mapping for ICMPv6              Packets",RFC 6791, DOI 10.17487/RFC6791, November 2012,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6791>.   [RFC7757]  Anderson, T. and A. Leiva, "Explicit Address Mappings for              Stateless IP/ICMP Translation",RFC 7757,              DOI 10.17487/RFC7757, February 2016,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7757>.Anderson                      Informational                    [Page 17]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 20166.2.  Informative References   [FRAGMENTS]              Jaeggli, J., Colitti, L., Kumari, W., Vyncke, E., Kaeo,              M., and T. Taylor, "Why Operators Filter Fragments and              What It Implies", Work in Progress,draft-taylor-v6ops-fragdrop-02, December 2013.   [RFC791]   Postel, J., "Internet Protocol", STD 5,RFC 791,              DOI 10.17487/RFC0791, September 1981,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc791>.   [RFC959]   Postel, J. and J. Reynolds, "File Transfer Protocol",              STD 9,RFC 959, DOI 10.17487/RFC0959, October 1985,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc959>.   [RFC1981]  McCann, J., Deering, S., and J. Mogul, "Path MTU Discovery              for IP version 6",RFC 1981, DOI 10.17487/RFC1981, August              1996, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc1981>.   [RFC2460]  Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6              (IPv6) Specification",RFC 2460, DOI 10.17487/RFC2460,              December 1998, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2460>.   [RFC2663]  Srisuresh, P. and M. Holdrege, "IP Network Address              Translator (NAT) Terminology and Considerations",RFC 2663, DOI 10.17487/RFC2663, August 1999,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2663>.   [RFC2991]  Thaler, D. and C. Hopps, "Multipath Issues in Unicast and              Multicast Next-Hop Selection",RFC 2991,              DOI 10.17487/RFC2991, November 2000,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2991>.   [RFC2993]  Hain, T., "Architectural Implications of NAT",RFC 2993,              DOI 10.17487/RFC2993, November 2000,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2993>.   [RFC3022]  Srisuresh, P. and K. Egevang, "Traditional IP Network              Address Translator (Traditional NAT)",RFC 3022,              DOI 10.17487/RFC3022, January 2001,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3022>.   [RFC3235]  Senie, D., "Network Address Translator (NAT)-Friendly              Application Design Guidelines",RFC 3235,              DOI 10.17487/RFC3235, January 2002,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3235>.Anderson                      Informational                    [Page 18]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 2016   [RFC4213]  Nordmark, E. and R. Gilligan, "Basic Transition Mechanisms              for IPv6 Hosts and Routers",RFC 4213,              DOI 10.17487/RFC4213, October 2005,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4213>.   [RFC6145bis]              Bao, C., Li, X., Baker, F., Anderson, T., and F. Gont,              "IP/ICMP Translation Algorithm (rfc6145bis)", Work in              Progress,draft-bao-v6ops-rfc6145bis-05, January 2016.   [RFC6146]  Bagnulo, M., Matthews, P., and I. van Beijnum, "Stateful              NAT64: Network Address and Protocol Translation from IPv6              Clients to IPv4 Servers",RFC 6146, DOI 10.17487/RFC6146,              April 2011, <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6146>.   [RFC6147]  Bagnulo, M., Sullivan, A., Matthews, P., and I. van              Beijnum, "DNS64: DNS Extensions for Network Address              Translation from IPv6 Clients to IPv4 Servers",RFC 6147,              DOI 10.17487/RFC6147, April 2011,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6147>.   [RFC6540]  George, W., Donley, C., Liljenstolpe, C., and L. Howard,              "IPv6 Support Required for All IP-Capable Nodes",BCP 177,RFC 6540, DOI 10.17487/RFC6540, April 2012,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6540>.   [RFC6724]  Thaler, D., Ed., Draves, R., Matsumoto, A., and T. Chown,              "Default Address Selection for Internet Protocol Version 6              (IPv6)",RFC 6724, DOI 10.17487/RFC6724, September 2012,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6724>.   [RFC6883]  Carpenter, B. and S. Jiang, "IPv6 Guidance for Internet              Content Providers and Application Service Providers",RFC 6883, DOI 10.17487/RFC6883, March 2013,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6883>.   [RFC6946]  Gont, F., "Processing of IPv6 "Atomic" Fragments",RFC 6946, DOI 10.17487/RFC6946, May 2013,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6946>.   [RFC7020]  Housley, R., Curran, J., Huston, G., and D. Conrad, "The              Internet Numbers Registry System",RFC 7020,              DOI 10.17487/RFC7020, August 2013,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7020>.Anderson                      Informational                    [Page 19]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 2016   [RFC7230]  Fielding, R., Ed. and J. Reschke, Ed., "Hypertext Transfer              Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Message Syntax and Routing",RFC 7230, DOI 10.17487/RFC7230, June 2014,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7230>.   [RFC7756]  Anderson, T. and S. Steffann, "Stateless IP/ICMP              Translation for IPv6 Internet Data Center Environments              (SIIT-DC): Dual Translation Mode",RFC 7756,              DOI 10.17487/RFC7756, February 2016,              <http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7756>.Anderson                      Informational                    [Page 20]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 2016Appendix A.  Complete SIIT-DC IDC Topology Example   Figure 4 attempts to "tie it all together" and show a more complete   SIIT-DC topology, in order to better demonstrate its advantageous   properties discussed inSection 1.  These are discussed in more   detail below.Anderson                      Informational                    [Page 21]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 2016                  /--------------------------------\ /---------------\                  |          IPv4 Internet         | | IPv6 Internet |                  \-+----------------------------+-/ \--------+------/                    |                            |            |                    | <----------[BGP]---------> |          [BGP]                    |                            |            |     +-------<192.0.2.0/24>---------+ +---<192.0.2.0/24>---+  |     |                        BR #1 | | BR #2              |  |     | EAM Table:                   | |                    |  |     | ==========                   | |                    |  |     | 192.0.2.1,2001:db8:12:34::1  | |                    |  |     | 192.0.2.2,2001:db8:12:34::2  | |  Exactly the same  |  |     | 192.0.2.3,2001:db8:fe:dc::1  | |  configuration as  |  |     | 192.0.2.4,2001:db8:12:34::4  | |  BR #1             |  |     | 192.0.2.5,2001:db8:fe:dc::e  | |                    |  |     |                              | |                    |  |     | XLAT Prefix 2001:db8:46::/96 | |                    |  |     |                              | |                    |  |     +--------<2001:db8:46::/96>----+ +-<2001:db8:46::/96>-+  |                       |                      |               |                       | <------[ECMP]------> |               |                       |                      |               |     /-----------------+----------------------+--\            |     |         IPv6 IDC network w/ OSPFv3        +------------/     \-+--------------------------------+--------/       |                                |       | Tenant A's server LAN          | Tenant B's server LAN       | 2001:db8:12:34::/64            | 2001:db8:fe:dc::/64       |                                |       +-- www      ::1 (IPv6+SIIT-DC)  +-- www-lb ::1 (IPv6+SIIT-DC)       |                                |       +-- mta      ::2 (IPv6+SIIT-DC)  +-- web ::80:01 (IPv6 only)       |                                |   [...]       +-- ftp      ::3 (IPv6)          +-- web ::80:99 (IPv6 only)       |            ::4 (IPv4, via ER)  |       |                                |         +----+       +-- app01 ::a:01 (IPv6 only)     \---- ::e | ER | --\       |   [...]                                  +----+   |       +-  app99 ::a:99 (IPv6 only)                        |       |                                  ftp 192.0.2.5 ---/       +-- db01  ::d:01 (IPv6 only)       |   [..]       \-- db99  ::d:99 (IPv6 only)                  Figure 4: Example SIIT-DC IDC TopologyAnderson                      Informational                    [Page 22]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 2016   Single-Stack IPv6 Operation:      As discussed inSection 1.1, SIIT-DC facilitates an IPv6-only IDC      network infrastructure.  The only places where IPv4 is absolutely      required are between the BRs and the IPv4 Internet and between any      ERs and the IPv4-only applications or devices they are serving      (illustrated here as the two tenants' FTP servers).  The figure      also illustrates how SIIT-DC does not interfere with native IPv6;      when there is no longer a need to support IPv4 clients, the BRs      may be decommissioned without causing any impact to native IPv6      traffic.   Stateless Operation:      As discussed inSection 1.2, SIIT-DC operates in a stateless      fashion.  In the illustration, both BRs are simultaneously      advertising (i.e., anycasting) the IPv4 Service Address Pool and      the IPv6 translation prefix, so incoming traffic from the IPv4      Internet may arrive at either of the BRs, while outgoing IPv6      traffic destined for IPv4 endpoints are load balanced between them      using Equal-Cost Multipath Routing.  No continuous state      synchronization between the two BRs occurs.  Should one of the BRs      fail, the BGP and OSPF protocols will ensure that traffic      converges on the remaining BR.  Existing sessions will not be      disrupted beyond any disruption caused by the BGP/OSPF convergence      process itself.   IPv4 Address Conservation:      As discussed inSection 1.3, SIIT-DC conserves the IDC operator's      IPv4 address space.  Even though the two customers in the example      above have several hundred servers, the majority of the servers      are not used for running services made available directly from the      Internet and therefore do not need to consume IPv4 addresses.  The      IDC network infrastructure consumes no IPv4 addresses, either.      Finally, the IPv4 addresses that are assigned to the SIIT-DC      function as IPv4 Service Address Pools may be assigned with 100%      efficiency, one address at a time; there is no requirement to      assign multiple addresses to a single customer in a contiguous      block.   Application Support:      As discussed inSection 1.5, as long as the application protocol      is translation friendly (illustrated here with HTTP and SMTP), it      will work with SIIT-DC without requiring any special adaptation.      Furthermore, translation-unfriendly applications (illustrated here      with FTP) will also work when located behind an ER [RFC7756].      Tenant A's FTP server illustrates how an ER may be located in the      networking stack of a node, while Tenant B's FTP serverAnderson                      Informational                    [Page 23]

RFC 7755                         SIIT-DC                   February 2016      illustrates how the ER may be deployed as a network service.  The      latter approach enables SIIT-DC to support IPv4-only      nodes/devices.Acknowledgements   The author would like to thank the following individuals for their   contributions, suggestions, corrections, and criticisms: Fred Baker,   Cameron Byrne, Brian E.  Carpenter, Ross Chandler, Tobias Gondrom,   Christer Holmberg, Dagfinn Ilmari Mannsaaker, Lars Olafsen, Stig   Sandbeck Mathisen, Knut A. Syed, Qin Wu, and Andrew Yourtchenko.Author's Address   Tore Anderson   Redpill Linpro   Vitaminveien 1A   0485 Oslo   Norway   Phone: +47 959 31 212   Email: tore@redpill-linpro.com   URI:http://www.redpill-linpro.comAnderson                      Informational                    [Page 24]