Cisco IP Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are a portfolio of technology embedded in most devices that run Cisco software that allows Cisco customers to analyze IPv6 service levels for IPv6 applications and services, increase productivity, lower operational costs, and reduce the frequency of network outages. IP SLAs uses active traffic monitoring--the generation of traffic in a continuous, reliable, and predictable manner--for measuring network performance.

The following Cisco IP SLAs are supported for IPv6:

• Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) echo operation--Used to monitor end-to-end response time between a Cisco device and other devices using IPv4 or IPv6. ICMP echo is useful for troubleshooting network connectivity issues.
• TCP connect operation--Used to measure the response time taken to perform a TCP Connect operation between a Cisco device and other devices using IPv4 or IPv6.
• User Datagram Protocol (UDP) echo operation--Used to monitor end-to-end response time between a Cisco router and devices using IPv4 or IPv6 .
• UDP jitter operation--Used to analyze round-trip delay, one-way delay, one-way jitter, one-way packet loss, and connectivity in networks that carry UDP traffic in IPv4 or IPv6 networks.
• UDP jitter operation--Used to monitor VoIP quality levels in your network, allowing you to guarantee VoIP quality levels to your users in IPv4 or IPv6 networks.