Configuring IPv6 IPv6 Overview
OmniSwitch 6800/6850/9000 Network Configuration Guide March 2008 page 19-5
IPv6 Addressing
One of the main differences between IPv6 and IPv4 is that the address size has increased from 32 bits to
128 bits. Going to a 128-bit address also increases the size of the address space to the point where running
out of IPv6 addresses is not a concern.
The following types of IPv6 addresses are supported:
Link-local—A link-local address is a private unicast address that identifies an interface or device on the
local network. This type of address allows communication with devices and/or neighboring nodes that are
attached to the same physical link. Note that when the communication is between two nodes that are not
attached to the same link, both nodes must have a configured global unicast address. Routing between
link-local addresses is not available because link-local addresses are not known or advertised to the
general network.
Unicast—Standard unicast addresses, similar to IPv4.
Multicast—Addresses that represent a group of devices. Traffic sent to a multicast address is delivered to
all members of the multicast group.
Anycast—Traffic that is sent to this type of address is delivered to one member of the anycast group. The
device that receives the traffic is usually the one that is easiest to reach as determined by the active rout-
ing protocol.
Note. IPv6 does not support the use of broadcast addresses. This functionality is replaced using improved
multicast addressing capabilities.
IPv6 address types are identified by the high-order bits of the address, as shown in the following table:
Note that anycast addresses are unicast addresses that are not identifiable by a known prefix.
Address Type Binary Prefix IPv6 Notation
Unspecified 00...0 (128 bits) ::/128
Loopback 00...1 (128 bits) ::1/128
Multicast 11111111 FF00::/8
Link-local unicast 1111111010 FE80::/10
Global unicast everything else
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