becarpenter-book6/6. Management and Operations/6. Management and Operations.md

# Management and Operations

*This chapter is at an early stage and is expected to grow dynamically
over time*.

Management and operations is a complex topic not just for IPv6, but for
information technology in general. Because there are many types of
networks consisting of a myriad of components, naturally operations and
management will vary based on the use cases, environments, policies, and
budgets of any given network ecosystem. To understand how to manage a
given resource, it is imperative that there exist an understanding of
that resource, and how it is to be used. Most networks can be broadly
categorized into one of a small number of general types: Carrier,
Personal, Enterprise, Mobile, and Data Center. There are obviously more
subtle categories, but in order to maintain an element of completeness,
these five categories will encompass the broad spectrum of networks in
use today.

Because most networks are comprised of similar elements and that the
core function of a network is to connect endpoints and to deliver data,
it is expected that there is overlap of operational requirements and
solutions in these categories.

*Carrier*

This category includes local Internet Service Providers serving a single
market, national or international carriers, and a handful of backbone or
international carriers who offer transit services to other carriers.
Internet Exchange Points may also be considered as a special type of
transit carrier. Carriers in general do not offer services direct to end
users, except that they must all play a part in DNS infrastructure.

*Personal*

This refers primarily to domestic networks, which are often quite simple
today (no internal routing) but are expected to become more complex as
more and more smart devices are deployed in the home. Needless to say,
they should be highly automated and should not rely on human expertise
for operations.

*Enterprise*

This covers a wide range of networks which may have very different
characteristics. At the simple end, a small office network may be little
different from a domestic network, and is often referred to as SOHO
(small office, home office). A small to medium enterprise network may be
more complex, with internal routing and perhaps several nearby physical
locations. A large enterprise network could span anywhere from a small
town up to several continents. Some large enterprise networks may equal
or exceed a carrier network in complexity. Enterprises of all sizes are
likely to offer services to other enterprises or to the public, so will
be much more concerned by transport and application layer issues than
most carriers.

*Data Center*

Large data centers, either embedded in enterprise networks, or
specialized enterprises in themsleves, have a unique set of networking
and performance requirements.

*Other*

We do not claim that the above list is complete. For example, a fast
growing category is *Building Services Networks* for the automation of
the infrastructure of large buildings. It is expected that *Vehicular
Networks* will be widely deployed. Other forms of industrial networks
also have to be provided for. These networks (often bundled together as
"Internet of Things") may not be of concern to typical network
operations centers, but they will strongly influence future technical
development of IPv6.

This chapter starts by describing how various management and operations
tools apply to IPv6, and then continues by discussing some specific
topics where IPv6 presents its own challenges. The emphasis is on
carrier, enterprise and data center scenarios.

## [Address and Prefix Management](Address%20and%20Prefix%20Management.md)

## [Remote configuration](Remote%20configuration.md)

## [Benchmarking and monitoring](Benchmarking%20and%20monitoring.md)

## [Routing operation](Routing%20operation.md)

## [Security operation](Security%20operation.md)

## [Multi-prefix operation](Multi-prefix%20operation.md)

## [Energy consumption](Energy%20consumption.md)

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