Monday, July 23, 2012

Great IPv6 Subnetting Article by Chris Grundemann

If you want a great explanation of IPv6 subnetting then head over to Chris Grundemann's article, he does an awesome job of explaining the principal different in thinking between IPv4 and IPv6 addressing and subnetting design. It is well worth the read.
- Ed

Friday, July 20, 2012

Understanding IPv6, Third Edition is now available!

Microsoft Press has released the new book Understanding IPv6, Third Edition by my friend Joseph Davies. I was fortunate enough to be asked by Joe to be the technical editor of the book and I am very excited about it now being available. Joe has done a great job covering some pretty difficult topics around IPv6 and if you are an IT Pro and doing Microsoft infrastructure architecture, design and deployment you really need to get this book. Why?

First, it has been updated for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 and some of the specific IPv6 behavior those two OS's will have verse previous versions of Windows. Second, it has updated recommendations on best practices for deployment in DirectAccess environments and also updated references to RFC's. The last point isn't trivial as the RFC landscape around IPv6 is actually changing and has been moving around a lot within the last 3 years or so.

Finally, you will need a good technical reference around the IPv6 protocol and how it is implemented in Windows and this is the ONLY book that provides that. It was written by someone who has intimate access to the Windows COSD team (they write the network stack for Windows) and I think Joe does a wonderful job making a rather difficult subject matter something that can be understood quickly. Best of all, you don't have to read it end to end, it was designed to be read in chapters as they are relevant to you and what you are trying to do.

It is available from Amazon and at the O'Reilly / Microsoft Press site. The first chapter is available as a sample download too.

The book chapters are:
Chapter 1: Introduction to IPv6
Chapter 2: IPv6 Protocol for Windows
Chapter 3: IPv6 Addressing
Chapter 4: The IPv6 Header
Chapter 5: ICMPv6
Chapter 6: Neighbor Discovery
Chapter 7: Multicast Listener Discovery and MLD Version 2
Chapter 8: Address Autoconfiguration
Chapter 9: IPv6 and Name Resolution
Chapter 10: IPv6 Routing
Chapter 11: IPv6 Transition Technologies
Chapter 12: ISATAP
Chapter 13: 6to4
Chapter 14: Teredo
Chapter 15: IP-HTTPS
Chapter 16: NAT64/DNS64
Chapter 17: IPv6 Security Considerations
Chapter 18: DirectAccess
Chapter 19: Deploying IPv6 on an Intranet
Chapter 20: IPv6 on the Microsoft Corporate Network
Appendix IPv6 RFC Index
Appendix Testing for Understanding Answers
Appendix Setting Up an IPv6 Test Lab
Appendix IPv6 Reference Tables
Appendix Link-Layer Support for IPv6
Appendix Windows Sockets Changes for IPv6
Appendix Mobile IPv6
Appendix Teredo Protocol Processes

So there you have it, my shameless book plug. Honestly, I really do believe you will get great value from Joe's book if you have to do any work around IPv6 and Windows at all. Given everything that is happening on the Internet that should be a LOT of people!
- Ed

Friday, July 06, 2012

Follow up from Microsoft TechEd Europe

There were some additional questions I got at Microsoft TechEd Europe plus some great feedback I wanted to share about my presentation.

First off, thanks to everyone who attended my session in Amsterdam, it was a thrill to present to around 500 delegates and I appreciate all the survey feedback too (and the positive survey ratings!)

For everyone asking about how to get started and reference materials, in my previous post from my Microsoft TechEd North America presentation I have references for books, websites to get IPv6 tunnel broker services and even client host agents to get IPv6 up and working on your Windows 7 machine. To avoid duplication please just pop open that blog post to get that info.

One of the requests I got was for a white paper on how to get started on planning and deployment, something that could specifically be used with management. I don't have a specific white paper to provide however there are some excellent resources out on the web that might provide enough information to help in this area.

Specifically, you can look through both ARIN and RIPE's excellent websites for materials that might match your need requirements. In addition, ARIN maintains a great WIKI on IPv6 at http://www.getipv6.info which is well worth some time to review. There are commercial companies that can provide specific planning and deployment recommendations but those services are obviously not free.

If you are interested in seeing my session but you missed it in person my TechEd North American session is posted (audio and slides only.) I don't know if they will be posting the one from TechEd Europe or not.

- Ed

Thursday, July 05, 2012

Renewed as Microsoft MVP for 2012


I'm happy to say that I was renewed as a Microsoft MVP for 2012 on July 1st. Hard to believe I was first awarded way back in 2004, I'm not the oldest MVP by any stretch but it does remind me how long I've been involved in IT Pro user groups and community.

It is always an honor to be recognized and I am definitely looking forward to the next MVP Summit as the number of product changes and announcements Microsoft has been making as of late is pretty remarkable. It should make for some interesting interaction at the Summit - plus I get to see who actually got a Surface vs. tablet vs. laptop out of all my colleagues.

Also, a quick congratulations to all my fellow renewed and the brand new MVP's on the July award cycle. Keep up the good work and I'll catch you at a community event somewhere!
- Ed