HP 830 Series Configuration Manual page 104

An IPv6 address prefix is written in IPv6-address/prefix-length notation, where the IPv6-address is
represented in any of the formats previously mentioned and the prefix-length is a decimal number
indicating how many leftmost bits of the IPv6 address comprises the address prefix.
IPv6 address types
IPv6 addresses fall into the following types:
Unicast address—Identifier for a single interface, similar to an IPv4 unicast address. A packet sent
•
to a unicast address is delivered to the interface identified by that address.
• Multicast address—Identifier for a set of interfaces (typically belonging to different nodes), similar
to an IPv4 multicast address. A packet sent to a multicast address is delivered to all interfaces
identified by that address.
There are no broadcast addresses in IPv6. Their function is replaced by multicast addresses.
Anycast address—Identifier for a set of interfaces (typically belonging to different nodes). A packet
•
sent to an anycast address is delivered to the nearest one of the interfaces identified by that address.
The nearest interface is chosen according to the routing protocols' measure of distance.
The type of an IPv6 address is designated by the first several bits, called the format prefix.
the mappings between address types and format prefixes.
Table 5 Mappings between address types and format prefixes
Type
Unicast
address
Multicast address
Anycast address
Unicast addresses
Unicast addresses include global unicast addresses, link-local unicast addresses, site-local unicast
addresses, the loopback address, and the unspecified address:
• Global unicast addresses, equivalent to public IPv4 addresses, are provided for network service
providers. This type of address allows efficient prefix aggregation to restrict the number of global
routing entries.
Link-local addresses are used for communication among link-local nodes for neighbor discovery
•
and stateless autoconfiguration. Packets with link-local source or destination addresses are not
forwarded to other links.
Site-local unicast addresses are similar to private IPv4 addresses. Packets with site-local source or
•
destination addresses are not forwarded out of the local site (or a private network).
• A loopback address is 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1 (or ::1). It cannot be assigned to any physical interface, and
it can be used by a node to send an IPv6 packet to itself in the same way as the loopback address
in IPv4.
Unspecified address
Loopback address
Link-local address
Site-local address
Global unicast address
Format prefix (binary)
00...0 (128 bits)
00...1 (128 bits)
1111111010
1111111011
Other forms
11111111
Anycast addresses use the unicast address space and have the
identical structure of unicast addresses.
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Table 5
IPv6 prefix ID
::/128
::1/128
FE80::/10
FEC0::/10
N/A
FF00::/8
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