The IPv6 Topology Dataset contains information useful for studying the IP- and AS-topology of the IPv6 Internet. The focus of this measurement is on discovering topology and not on finding responding destinations. A globally distributed set of Archipelago (Ark) monitors has continuously collected this data since December 12, 2008.

We use scamper to perform ICMP-based traceroutes using the Paris traceroute technique. For each probed path, we collect the IP address, RTT, reply TTL, and ICMP responses for all hops, including intermediate hops.

Each Ark monitor probes all announced IPv6 prefixes (/48 or shorter) once every 24 hours. One probing pass through all announced prefixes is called a cycle. In each cycle, a monitor probes a single random destination in each prefix as well as the ::1 of the prefix. Different monitors probe prefixes in independently-chosen random orders and probe to an independently-chosen random destination in each prefix. Prefixes are randomly ordered in such a way that a given monitor never probes the same prefix within 16 hours across cycle boundaries (a monitor can never re-probe a prefix within the same cycle, by definition).

Data availability

The IPv6 Ark topology data are available as a public dataset since February 2014.

Acceptable Use Agreement

Please read the terms of the CAIDA Acceptable Use Agreement (AUA) for Publicy Accessible Datasets below:

When referencing this data (as required by the AUA), please use:

The CAIDA UCSD IPv6 Topology Dataset - <dates used>,
https://www.caida.org/catalog/datasets/ipv6_allpref_topology_dataset/.

You are required to report your publications using this dataset to CAIDA.

Request Data Access

Access the publicly available CAIDA IPv6 Topology Dataset (and other topology data)

Topology Datasets

• Freely Available Datasets
  • The Ark IPv4 Routed /24 Topology Dataset (data older than one year only)
  • The Ark IPv4 Routed /24 DNS Names Dataset (data older than one year only)
  • IPv4 TNT MPLS Topology Dataset (data older than one year only)
  • Ark Internet Topology Data Kits (ITDK) (data older than one year only)
  • The Ark IPv6 Topology Dataset
  • The Ark IPv6 DNS Names Dataset
  • The IPv6 Routed /48 Topology Dataset
  • IPv4 Routed /24 AS Links (September 2007 - ongoing)
  • IPv6 AS Links (December 2008 - ongoing)
  • AS Rank
  • AS Relationships
  • Skitter Macroscopic Topology Data
  • Skitter Internet Topology Data Kits (ITDK) - April 2002 and April/May 2003
  • Skitter AS Links (January 2000 - February 2008)
  • Skitter Router Adjacencies
  • AS Taxonomy
  • PAM 2010 "Improving AS Annotations" Supplement
• Restricted Access Datasets
  • The Ark IPv4 Routed /24 Topology Dataset (incl. most recent one year)
  • The Ark IPv4 Routed /24 DNS Names Dataset (incl. most recent one year)
  • IPv4 TNT MPLS Topology Dataset (incl. most recent one year)
  • The Ark IPv4 Prefix-Probing Dataset (incl. most recent one year)
  • Ark Internet Topology Data Kits (ITDK) (incl. most recent one year)
  • Complete Routed-Space DNS Lookups

References

For more information on CAIDA topology measurements, see:

• Internet Topology Data Comparison
• The Archipelago Project (Ark)
• Macroscopic Topology Measurements

For more information on topology measurements in general see:

• University of Oregon Route Views Project
• Paris traceroute