<P> The host first determines if the network is connected to any routers at all, because if not, then all nodes are reachable using the link - local address that already is assigned to the host . The host will send out a Router Solicitation message to the all - routers multicast group with its link local address as source . If there is no answer after a predetermined number of attempts, the host concludes that no routers are connected . If it does get a response from a router, there will be network information inside that is needed to create a globally unique address . There are also two flag bits that tell the host whether it should use DHCP to get further information and addresses: </P> <Ul> <Li> The Manage bit, that indicates whether or not the host should use DHCP to obtain additional addresses </Li> <Li> The Other bit, that indicates whether or not the host should obtain other information through DHCP . The other information consists of one or more prefix information options for the subnets that the host is attached to, a lifetime for the prefix, and two flags: <Ul> <Li> On - link: If this flag is set, the host will treat all addresses on the specific subnet as being on - link, and send packets directly to them instead of sending them to a router for the duration of the given lifetime . </Li> <Li> Address: This is the flag that tells the host to actually create a global address . </Li> </Ul> </Li> </Ul> <Li> The Manage bit, that indicates whether or not the host should use DHCP to obtain additional addresses </Li> <Li> The Other bit, that indicates whether or not the host should obtain other information through DHCP . The other information consists of one or more prefix information options for the subnets that the host is attached to, a lifetime for the prefix, and two flags: <Ul> <Li> On - link: If this flag is set, the host will treat all addresses on the specific subnet as being on - link, and send packets directly to them instead of sending them to a router for the duration of the given lifetime . </Li> <Li> Address: This is the flag that tells the host to actually create a global address . </Li> </Ul> </Li>

How many octets are there in an ipv6 address