Of course, I realize the need to go to IPv6 out on the open Internet since we are running out of addresses, but I really don't understand why there is any need to use it on an internal network. I have done zero with IPv6, so I also wonder: Won't modern firewalls do NAT between internal IPv4 addresses, and external IPv6 addresses?
I was just wondering since I have seen so many people struggling with IPv6 questions here, and wonder why bother?
Best Answer
There is no NAT for IPv6 (as you think of NAT anyway). NAT was an $EXPLETIVE temporary solution to IPv4 running out of addresses (a problem which didn't actually exist, and was solved before NAT was ever necessary, but history is 20/20). It adds nothing but complexity and would do little except cause headaches in IPv6 (we have so many IPv6 Address we unabashedly waste them). NAT66 does exist, and is meant to reduce the number of IPv6 addresses used by each host (it's normal for IPv6 hosts to have multiple addresses, IPv6 is somewhat different than IPv4 in many ways, this is one).
The Internet was supposed to be end-to-end routable, that is part of the reason IPv4 in invented and why it gained acceptance. That is not to say that all address on the Internet were supposed to be reachable. NAT breaks both. Firewalls add layers of security by breaking reachability, but normally that it's at the expense of routability.
You will want IPv6 in your networks as there is no way to specify an IPv6 endpoint with a IPv4 address. The other way around does work, which enables IPv6-only networks using DNS64 and NAT64 to access the IPv4 Internet still. It's actually possible today to ditch IPv4 all together, though it's a bit of hassle setting it up. It would be possible to proxy from IPv4 internal addresses to IPv6 servers. Adding and configuring a proxy server adds configuration, hardware, and maintenance costs to the network; usually much more than simply enabling IPv6.
NAT causes it's own problems too. The Router has to be capable of coordinating every connection running through it, keeping track of endpoints, ports, timeouts, and more. All that traffic is being funneled through that single point usually. Though it's possible to build redundant NAT routers, the technology is massively complex and generally expensive. Redundant simple routers are easy and cheap (comparatively). Also, to re-establish some of the routability, forwarding and translating rules have to be established on the NAT system. This still breaks protocols which embed IP addresses, such as SIP. UPNP, STUN, and other protocols were invented to help with this problem too - more complexity, more maintenance, more that could go wrong.