**Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)**

**Test Materials for the United States Government**

**National Institute of Standards and Technology**

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed
a draft IPv6 profile for the Federal Government in Publication 500-267.
As part of this effort NIST has begun to consider the feasibility and
form of a possible testing program to demonstrate IPv6 compliance,
including:

1.  Qualified test laboratories testing to public domain test suites and
    relevant test methods, and

2.  An Approved Products List (APL) which identifies Hosts, Routers and
    Network Protection Devices (NPD) that have passed interoperability
    testing and conformance testing.

In response to NIST's meeting announcement and invitation to provide
written comments, SynExi submits the following with regards to a
potential framework for an IPv6 test and evaluation program.

# USG Requirements for Testing

While the objective and approach advocated by NIST for an IPv6 profile
is of significant value, there must be careful consideration of the fact
that a test and evaluation effort for the USG must consider a number of
different "functional" and "operational" aspects of IPv6 and the
specified mission of federal organization as well as interoperability
between federal organizations. In this regard, the test and evaluation
program developed should go beyond testing on the profiles as they
relate to specific product categories. One could envision the following
test categories:

1.  Product Testing -- Evaluation of specific products and their
    compliance with stated profiles.

    a.  Hardware

    b.  Software

    c.  Complex System (Hardware & Software)

2.  System Interoperability Testing -- Evaluation of products and
    systems from the perspective of integration and interoperability.
    This would include the testing of alternative solutions for a
    generalized or specific application.

3.  Solution Testing -- End-to-end organizational solution testing in a
    "realistic" operational environment.

4.  Scalability Testing -- Testing solutions for scalability and
    flexibility.

# Attributes of Potential Administrative Frameworks for Test Programs

An administrative framework for a USG test program should balance the
ability for standards organizations and private industry to provide a
publicly available set of test criteria and cost effective testing
solutions to scale. The critical nature of any test program will be the
avoidance of tying USG test criteria to organizations that may not have
the USG and the free market as its primary objective. In other words,
the USG and NIST should avoid allying itself to International
organizations that can be manipulated by a small contingency of
individuals that may not have the best interest of the USG in mind.
Therefore, we highly recommend that the USG and NIST consider multiple
test and evaluation profiles and directly support the development of a
USG testing framework, managed by the USG.

# Potential Sources of Test Suites to Serve as a Technical Basis for a Testing Program

There are several potential valid sources for test suites. The first
potential source would be the NIST establishing a "neutral" process for
the development of a test suite that conforms to the developed and
evolving profile. An alternative to a NIST led effort would be the
establishment of a test and evaluation "consortium," with open
participation, that develops profiles for USG and NIST acceptance. NIST
could establish an Association or a Consortium in a fashion similar to
technology associations established by the National Science Foundation
(NSF) for directing technology and facility programs. Lastly, the USG
could rely on an existing organization that focuses on developing
comprehensive test suites from international standards. One organization
that comes to mind is The Open Group.

# Potential Test Providers Who Could Carry Out and/or Provide Services in Support of Test Programs.

There exist numerous organizations that can carry out and/or provide
services in support of test programs. Three fundamental approaches are
addressed here, including existing USG testing capabilities, private
industry testing capabilities, and potential USG developed testing
vehicles.

1.  The USG has numerous test and evaluation facilities that currently
    test products for conformance. Additionally, these test and
    evaluation organizations typically have numerous contractors that
    provide similar and additional services for the USG. The DoD has
    independent test and evaluation centers and provides valuable
    services to agencies for system, integration, and security testing
    as well as certification and accreditation (C&A). These organization
    could provide valuable information to an APL.

2.  Private industry has numerous testing facilities that can be
    contracted for and that are currently available to USG
    organizations. These facilities could provide test and evaluation
    results for a USG APL.

3.  The USG could establish an "omnibus" contracting vehicle through an
    organization such as the General Services Administration (GSA) to
    provide test and evaluation services.

SynExi, LLC, in conjunction with a large integrator is developing a
comprehensive test and evaluation center in the Northern Virginia region
specifically to support the USG's departments and agencies with IPv6
testing at all levels. This facility will be able to provide full
service test and evaluation from modeling and simulation to full-scale
testing and demonstration. The lab facility is designed to accomplish
the following:

1.  Testing

    a.  Hardware

    b.  Software

    c.  Applications

    d.  Appliances

    e.  Security

    f.  Systems

    g.  Integration & Interoperability

2.  Demonstration

    a.  Modeling and Simulation

    b.  Operational Test & Evaluation

    c.  Advanced Concepts

    d.  Certification

    e.  Scalability

3.  Training & Education

    a.  Technology

    b.  Hands-On

4.  Research & Development

    a.  New Functionality

    b.  New Capabilities

    c.  Advancement of Requests for Comment (RFC)

5.  Solutions & Design

    a.  Engineering

    b.  Integration

For further information, please contact:

SynExi, LLC

Mr. Dale Geesey

<dgeesey@synexi.net>

\(571\) 229-5080