As currently implemented, router advertisements do not support options for DNS server information, necessitating DHCPv6 for acquiring DNS server information. Tim Chown noted in a presentation before the Dynamic Host Configuration (dhc) and IPv6 Operations (v6ops) working groups at the Summer 2007 IETF that DHCPv6 does not support providing default router information, necessitating that stateless address autoconfiguration configure the default router, at which time SAA hands off the client to DHCPv6 for DNS server information.
This has started anew (sounds like a soap opera, doesn’t it 🙂 ) a discussion of the merits of enhancing the DHCPv6 protocol to allow it to provide default router information and/or adding options to the stateless address autoconfiguration protocol to enable SAA to provide DNS server information.
It has been argued that DHCPv6 has advantages in some network environments and stateless address autoconfiguration has advantages in other network environments. Network designers and administrators should be empowered to determine which protocol they prefer to provide addressing and DNS information to newly connected client computers. The IETF should enhance both DHCPv6 and stateless address autoconfiguration and let network designers and adminstrators decide which protocol will ultimately dominate in the new world order of IPv6.