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6boneWhat is the 6bone?

12 January 2000

The 6bone is an IPv6 Testbed that is an outgrowth of the IETF IPng project that created the IPv6 protocols intended to eventually replace the current Internet network layer protocols known as IPv4.

The 6bone is currently a world wide informal collaborative project, informally operated with oversight from the "NGtrans" (IPv6 Transition) Working Group of the IETF.

The 6bone started as a virtual network (using IPv6 over IPv4 tunneling/encapsulation) operating over the IPv4-based Internet to support IPv6 transport, and is slowly migrating to native links for IPv6 transport.

The initial 6bone focus was on testing of standards and implementations, while the current focus is more on testing of transition and operational procedures.

The 6bone operates under the IPv6 Testing Address Allocation (see  RFC 2471).

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