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rfc:rfc3849

Network Working Group G. Huston Request for Comments: 3849 Telstra Category: Informational A. Lord

                                                                 APNIC
                                                              P. Smith
                                                                 Cisco
                                                             July 2004
           IPv6 Address Prefix Reserved for Documentation

Status of this Memo

 This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
 not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
 memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).

Abstract

 To reduce the likelihood of conflict and confusion when relating
 documented examples to deployed systems, an IPv6 unicast address
 prefix is reserved for use in examples in RFCs, books, documentation,
 and the like.  Since site-local and link-local unicast addresses have
 special meaning in IPv6, these addresses cannot be used in many
 example situations.  The document describes the use of the IPv6
 address prefix 2001:DB8::/32 as a reserved prefix for use in
 documentation.

1. Introduction

 The address architecture for IPv6 [1] does not specifically allocate
 an IPv6 address prefix for use for documentation purposes.
 Documentation material is currently using address prefixes drawn from
 address blocks already allocated or assigned to existing
 organizations or to well known ISPs, or drawn from the currently
 unallocated address pool.  Such use conflicts with existing or future
 allocations or assignments of IPv6 address space.
 The problems such conflicts may cause have already been encountered
 with IPv4 where literal use of documented examples in a production
 environment causes address and routing conflicts with existing
 services.  In making an explicit allocation of a documentation
 address prefix, it is intended that such operational problems may be
 avoided for IPv6.

Huston, et al. Informational [Page 1] RFC 3849 IPv6 Documentation Address July 2004

 Similar, but different, discussion also applies to top level domain
 names and some have been reserved for similar purposes [2].

2. Documentation IPv6 Address Prefix

 To allow documentation to accurately describe deployment examples,
 the use of site local or link local addresses is inappropriate, and a
 unicast address block is required.  All IPv6 unicast address space is
 currently marked as reserved, unassigned or has been assigned to the
 Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for further redistribution
 to the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) [1], but no unicast
 address space has been specifically nominated for the purposes of use
 in documented examples.
 Following acceptance within the Asia Pacific regional addressing
 community of a proposal for a block of IPv6 address space to be
 reserved for documentation purposes, the Asia Pacific Network
 Information Centre (APNIC) allocated a unicast address prefix for
 documentation purposes.  The address block is within the range of a
 conventional allocation size, so that documentation can accurately
 match deployment scenarios.
 The documentation prefix described in this memo can also be used to
 generate multicast addresses for documentation, using the Unicast
 prefix-based proposal [3].  Representing other kinds of multicast
 addresses in documentation is outside the scope of this memo.
 The prefix allocated for documentation purposes is 2001:DB8::/32

3. Operational Implications

 This assignment implies that IPv6 network operators should add this
 address prefix to the list of non-routeable IPv6 address space, and
 if packet filters are deployed, then this address prefix should be
 added to packet filters.
 This is not a local-use address prefix, and the filters may be used
 in both local and public contexts.

4. IANA Considerations

 IANA is to record the allocation of the IPv6 global unicast address
 prefix  2001:DB8::/32 as a documentation-only prefix  in the IPv6
 address registry.  No end party is to be assigned this address.

Huston, et al. Informational [Page 2] RFC 3849 IPv6 Documentation Address July 2004

5. Security Considerations

 IPv6 addressing documents do not have any direct impact on Internet
 infrastructure security.

6. Acknowledgements

 The authors acknowledge the work of Marc Blanchet, assisted by Alain
 Durand, Robert Elz, Bob Fink, and Dave Thaler, in authoring a
 previous proposal for a V6 documentation prefix.

7. References

7.1. Normative References

 [1]  Hinden, R. and S. Deering, "Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)
      Addressing Architecture", RFC 3513, April 2003.

7.2. Informative References

 [2]  Eastlake 3rd, D. and A. Panitz, "Reserved Top Level DNS Names",
      BCP 32, RFC 2606, June 1999.
 [3]  Haberman, B. and D. Thaler, "Unicast-Prefix-based IPv6 Multicast
      Addresses", RFC 3306, August 2002.

Authors' Addresses

 Geoff Huston
 Telstra
 EMail: gih@apnic.net
 Anne Lord
 Asia Pacific Network Information Centre
 EMail: anne@apnic.net
 Philip Smith
 Cisco Systems
 EMail: pfs@cisco.com

Huston, et al. Informational [Page 3] RFC 3849 IPv6 Documentation Address July 2004

Full Copyright Statement

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004).  This document is subject
 to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and
 except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.
 This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
 "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
 OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
 ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
 INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
 INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
 WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Intellectual Property

 The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
 Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
 pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
 this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
 might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
 made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
 on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
 found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.
 Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
 assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
 attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
 such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
 specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
 http://www.ietf.org/ipr.
 The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
 copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
 rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
 this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at ietf-
 ipr@ietf.org.

Acknowledgement

 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
 Internet Society.

Huston, et al. Informational [Page 4]

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