OK. For about a year now I've been telling you all that Windows 7's implementation of IPv6 by default will cause quite a bit of unnecessary activity on your network if you're not actually using it yet in the infrastructure. The numbers will be in soon.
Up to this point, I've only been telling you that a packet capture clearly shows the traffic generated by the IPv6 stack is significant when you consider dozens or hundreds of machines that may exist on a subnet. That's all about to change. I'm in the process of writing an article for Windows IT Pro magazine on the impact of IPv6 on a non-IPv6 network. In the process, I've built a lab of 24 virtual machines running Windows 7 with IPv6 out-of-the-box setup on an IPv4-only network infrastructure. I will be measuring the traffic generated by these machines.
Next, I will be enabling IPv6 on the infrastructure by doing the following:
-Enabling DHCPv6
-Enabling DNSv6
-Enable IPv6 on the Cisco routers(two will exist in the network)
Now, I will measure the network consumption when IPv4 is disabled on the network.
Finally, I'll measure the network consumption when IPv6 is enabled alongside IPv4 in both the Windows 7 clients and the infrastructure. When I'm done, I'll post the fast facts here and, of course, you'll be able to read all the details in Windows IT Pro magazine. I'll let you know the issue that will contain the article as soon as I find out.
Can you tell I'm excited about this lab fun I'm about to have?
