Operation Manual – IPv6 ManagementH3C S3100-52P Ethernet Switch Chapter 1 IPv6 Configuration1-1Chapter 1 IPv6 ConfigurationWhen configuring IPv6, go to these sections for information you are interested in:z IPv6 Overviewz IPv6 Configuration Task Listz IPv6 Configuration ExampleNote:z The term “router” in this document refers to a router in a generic sense or anEthernet switch running a routing protocol.z H3C S3100-52P Ethernet Switch supports IPv6 management features, but do notsupport IPv6 forwarding and related features.1.1 IPv6 OverviewInternet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), also called IP next generation (IPng), was designedby the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as the successor to Internet ProtocolVersion 4 (IPv4). The significant difference between IPv6 and IPv4 is that IPv6increases the IP address size from 32 bits to 128 bits.1.1.1 IPv6 FeaturesI. Header format simplificationIPv6 cuts down some IPv4 header fields or moves them to extension headers to reducethe overhead of the basic IPv6 header. IPv6 uses a fixed-length header, thus makingIPv6 packet handling simple and improving the forwarding efficiency. Although the IPv6address size is four times that of IPv4 addresses, the size of the IPv6 header is onlytwice that of the IPv4 header (excluding the Options field). For the specific IPv6 headerformat, see Figure 1-1.
