Network Performance Metrics for Transition From
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NETWORK PERFORMANCE METRICS FOR TRANSITION FROM IPv4 TO IPv6 NETWORKS Samuel Wafula Barasa A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment for the requirements of the award of degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Information Technology of Kibabii University November 2019 DECLARATION This thesis is my original work prepared with no other than indicated sources support and has not been presented for a degree or any other award. Signature ……………………………………. Date………………………………… Samuel W. Barasa PhD/IT/011/14 CERTIFICATION The undersigned certify that we have read and hereby recommend for acceptance of Kibabii University a thesis entitled “Network Performance Metrics for Transition from IPv4 to IPv6 Networks”. Signature ……………………………………. Date………………………………… Prof. Samuel Mbugua, PhD Department of Information Technology (IT) Kibabii University Signature ……………………………………. Date………………………………… Prof. Simon Karume, PhD Department of Computing and Informatics Laikipia University ii COPYRIGHT This thesis is copyright materials protected under the Berne Convection, the copyright act 2001 and other international and national enactments in that behalf, on intellectual property. It may not be reproduced by any means in full or in part except for short extracts in fair dealing for research or private study, critical scholarly review or discourse with acknowledgement, with written permission of the Dean School of Graduate Studies on behalf of both the author and Kibabii University. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my loving wife Isabella Tabani and my son Macmorris Muyonga. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, the glory be to the Almighty God who has made it possible for me to come this far. I wish to thank my supervisors Prof. Samuel Mbuguah and Prof. Simon Karume whose invaluable guidance and supervision has enabled me to successfully complete this study. Their insights have enlightened me in solving technical problems and improved my skills in academic thinking, presentation, and writing. I extend my gratitude to all the lecturers who imparted the academic knowledge acquired during the proposal and thesis development. I also wish to extend my gratitude to the Department of Information Technology, the School of Graduate Studies, and Kibabii University at large for their continuous support towards the Doctor of Philosophy in Information Technology programme. I would like also to thank my PhD classmates for their moral support, guidance and assistance. I also wish to thank my parents, and siblings whose continuous love, encouragement, moral and material support have made me what I am today. I also wish to recognize the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation for funding this study. v ABSTRACT The internet platform has been facilitated by a huge number of interconnected network nodes hence the dire need for extra pool of addresses, quality of services, routing efficiency, performance and optimization. These developments have contributed to the implementation of IPv6 to replace and improve the depleted IPv4 address pool. Although IPv6 promises enhancements to IPv4 standards, it’s evident it is maturing albeit slowly despite its implementation on major networks and operating systems. However, IPv6 transition presents performance degradation challenges to the Internet Protocol at implementation. These include bandwidth, throughput, latency and jitter performance with regard to the data, video, and voice traffic. Several solutions have been proposed, including dual-stacking, tunneling, and translation transition strategies that are not yet mature. The study purpose to enhance performance for transition from IPv4 to IPv6 networks to solve the performance degradation problems caused by the premature transition strategies and expedite IPv6 deployment. This study was achieved by establishing the performance degradation associated with transition mechanisms in transiting from IPv4 to IPv6 networks, analyzing how the mapping of configuration attributes to transition mechanisms affect performance degradation from IPv4 to IPv6 networks, and developing a model for smooth transition from IPv4 to IPv6 networks. This was accomplished by experimental design. The target population was on ISPs networks operating in Kenya. Purposive sampling was used to select service providers running on both IPv4 and IPv6 networks. Data collection combined interviews and content analysis. Internal consistency reliability estimation was administered to network experts on one occasion to estimate reliability. Feel for data (descriptive) and goodness of data (inferential) analysis was employed by the study. There were three primary components designed to enhance performance in form of traffic recognition and prioritization application for making decisions in the IPv6 deployments: the IPv6 transition app, the IPv6 transition controller, and the type of service (ToS) database. This study is an enabler for ultra-high performance networks providing for more efficient interconnection between bandwidth intensive Web and information service providers and customers. This will improve government operations for streamlining services for more citizens, improve quality and delivery of services countrywide, increase economic activity and jobs for urban and rural areas and foster high speed universal Internet access. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION............................................................................................................... ii COPYRIGHT ................................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION.................................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................v ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... vii LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................................. xi LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... xii LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................xv LIST OF EQUATIONS ................................................................................................. xix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS .......................................................xx DEFINITION OF TERMS......................................................................................... xxvii ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS ...................................................................... xxviii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................1 1.1 Background Information to the Study ....................................................................... 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................... 7 1.3 Objectives ................................................................................................................ 11 1.3.1 Overall Objective ................................................................................................. 11 1.3.2 Specific Objectives ............................................................................................... 11 1.4 Research Questions ................................................................................................. 11 1.5 Research Scope ....................................................................................................... 11 1.6 Significance ............................................................................................................. 12 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ...............................................................14 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 14 2.2 Internet Protocol Version 4 ..................................................................................... 14 2.2.1 Classless Inter Domain Routing (CIDR) .............................................................. 20 2.2.2 Network Address Translation (NAT) ................................................................... 20 2.2.3 Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP)............................................................. 22 2.2.4 Challenges of the Temporary Approaches ........................................................... 22 2.3 Internet Protocol Version 5 (IPv5) (RFC 1190) ...................................................... 27 vii 2.4 Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) (RFC 2460) ...................................................... 27 2.4.1 IPv6 Features ........................................................................................................ 28 2.4.2 IPv6 Headers ........................................................................................................ 33 2.4.3 IPv6 Address Types ............................................................................................. 36 2.4.4. Comparison of IPv4 and IPv6 ............................................................................. 38 2.5 IPv6 Transition Mechanisms ..................................................................................