By: Timothy Noonan.

Recently, Red Hat announced that Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 conforms with the USGv6 Host profile. See Red Hat Ready to Serve U.S. Government with IPv6 Conformity.  Likewise, we can assert that IBM POWER7 Systems™, as well as SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, have met the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s USGv6 evaluation requirements.

Why is this important? U.S. government agencies are migrating to Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), as the pool of IPv4 addresses is being depleted. The move to IPv6 also allows scalability of government networks to take advantage of new technologies such as cloud computing. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides the technical standards and testing program, USGv6, to certify products as conforming to IPv6. This certification is required to be considered by the U.S. government for new IT purchases. POWER7 Systems, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 conform with the USGv6 profile, making PowerLinux™ a trusted platform.

To achieve conformity, IBM POWER7 Systems, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 underwent rigorous testing by the University of New Hampshire’s InterOperability Laboratory  (UNH-IOL). UNH-IOL is one of two accredited third-party labs approved for USGv6 testing. Testing included addressing and security protocol requirements. For specific UNH-IOL test results for POWER7 Systems, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11, see the following: