Is it required to use IPv6 for internal communication (e.x. intranet)?

I work on embedded project, where peripherals (cameras, storage, external devices) communicates through Ethernet. They are connected using multiple switches (using VLAN), but they are not exposed to external world (no gateway to outer networks or internet).

The project currently uses IPv4, but the customer is asking for IPv6 support (in addition to IPv4).

Does this make sense? Will we ever need IPv6 for internal communication (ex. intranet) ? or it is just 开发者_JS百科"put IPv6 we might need it later?

The IPv4 apocalypse was caused by the exhaustion of public address space. Most (all?) intranets exclusively use private (RFC1918) address space.

There is no overlap there, so the short and long answers to the question are: no.

However, do not assume anything. After all, 640K RAM was enough for everybody – not!

In the distant future (thinking between 0.5 and 1 decade from now) devices will ship with only IPv6 stacks, and no IPv4 stacks. This will simplify operating systems and cut manufacturing costs. A device that only supports IPv6 may be shipped to both intranet-only or global internet environments.

You must support these kinds of devices now if you want to stay relevant.

In a completely closed setup you usually don't need IPv6 just to get more address space. Having globally unique addresses can be useful when you manage multiple closed setups for example, just to avoid confusion. IPv6 can also be useful for SLAAC (stateless auto configuration) and the abundance of available subnets and addresses per subnet. Using IPv6 might make managing such a network easier in the long term.

And then: which closed network stays closed forever? At some point in the future someone will want to put a gateway between the closed network and the rest of the world. For remote management, for linking it to other systems, or for some other reason :-)

For internal networks you don't need IPv6. IPv6 is especially useful because external IP addresses are running out.

That said, it can't hurt to do so, and if your customer asks for it, better do it now than later. Get ready for the future! :)

Though the technical gains of switching to IPv6 for an intranet may be minor, don't forget that many companies undergo mergers/reorgs with other companies at some point in their history.

If you want to run a consolidated IT shop, but have 2 networks that overlap the popular 10.X.X.X/192.168.X.X address space, things could get difficult quickly.

It's really a time/resources question more than anything else, when it comes to an intranet design.

(Don't have enough rep for comment)