Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) Practice Test

Stateless Address Auto-Configuration lets a host configure its own IPv6 address without a server. The router on the local link sends a Router Advertisement that includes a network prefix. The host combines that prefix with an interface identifier—often derived from its MAC address (IPv6’s EUI-64) or a random value if privacy extensions are enabled—to form a full address. The host then performs Duplicate Address Detection to ensure the address isn’t in use, and once it’s unique, the address is usable and the router’s information can supply the default gateway. Because the address is built from the advertised prefix and the host’s own identifier, no central server is needed. In contrast, DHCPv6 is a stateful method requiring a DHCP server; the IPv6 scope concept relates to where addresses are valid (link-local, global, etc.) rather than how they’re generated; and static addressing is manually configured rather than auto-generated.