Hi As you know, our past unwritten policy was to only dole out ip space to isps that were directly connected to major routing exchange points, or those whose requirements exceeded their upstream providers desire to allocate from their own space. After numerous discussions, we have developed the following document to be our new procedure for allocating space. We hope there is consensus amongst us. If there is not too much negative commentary, the InterNIC would like to start allocating space in terms of this document very soon. Also, the document below is an interim measure in lieu of the rfc1466bis document which is under construction. Thanks Mark and Kim INTERNIC IP ALLOCATION GUIDELINES FOR INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS (ISP) The InterNIC Registry, under the authority of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, allocates blocks of address space to Internet Service Providers (ISP) for the purpose of using that space with their customers. ISPs and others not located in the InterNIC's geographical area of responsibility should contact the appropriate Regional Registry for information on how to obtain IP addresses. The following is a list of Regional Registries and National NICs that have authority to allocate IP addresses: Other Regional Registries RIPE NCC (European Registry) hostmaster@ripe.net APNIC (Asia Pacific Registry) hostmaster@apnic.net InterNIC Delegated Registries within the Americas CA*net (Canadian NIC) ipregist@canet.ca RNP (Brazilian Registry) gomide@fapq.fapesp.br To aid in the utilization of Classless Interdomain Routing (CIDR), ISPs are encouraged to request address space from their upstream provider, it must be noted that the upstream provider maintains control of the allocated block unless explicitly and contractually stated otherwise. However, CIDR blocks may be allocated directly from the InterNIC if necessary. The following guidelines have been established in an attempt to allocate address space to ISPs in a way that is fair but will address the issues of router table growth and IP address preservation. This document also details procedures that must be followed by ALL ISPs receiving address space which is then leased to their customers. ISP GUIDELINES ---------------------------------------- Due to technical and implementation constraints on the Internet routing system and the possibility of routing overload, certain policies may need to be enforced by the major transit providers providers in order to reduce the number of globally advertised routes. These potential policies may include setting of limits on the size of prefixes added to the routing tables, filtering of non-aggregated routes, etc. Therefore, addresses obtained directly from the InterNIC (non-provider-based, also known as portable) are not guaranteed to be routable on the Internet. Therefore, if rich connectivity across the Internet is to be maintained, follow these steps when requesting address space: 1. Ask your provider 2. Ask your provider's provider 3. Ask the InterNIC registry as a last resort. Again note that if addresses are allocated directly from the InterNIC, they will be the least likely to be routable across the Internet. ISPs requesting address space from the InterNIC are required to complete the IP template reserved for ISPs. The template can be found at rs.internic.net, ftp/templates/ISP-CIDR-block.txt. [URL = ftp://rs.internic.net/ftp/templates/ISP-CIDR-block.txt] Any request judged to be lacking sufficient details will be returned to the requestor for additional information. In an effort to ensure that CIDR is implemented and utilized as efficiently as possible, the InterNIC Registry issues blocks of addresses on appropriate "CIDR-supported" bit boundaries. Network Providers will also need to be aware of the procedures that define bit boundary IP address allocation, and utilize these procedures when assigning IP address space to their respective customers. The following documents contain important information related to CIDR: RFC 1338 - Supernetting: an Address Assignment and Aggregation Strategy RFC 1482 - Aggregation Support in the NSFNET Policy-Based Routing Database RFC 1517 - Applicability Statement for the Implementation of Classless Inter-Domain Routing RFC 1518 - An Architecture for IP Address Allocation with CIDR RFC 1519 - Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) : an Address Assignment and Aggregation Strategy RFC 1520 - Exchanging Routing Information Across Provider Boundaries in the CIDR Environment Determination of CIDR block allocation size is the responsibility of the InterNIC, this allocation is based on the ISP's 3 - 6 month requirement and other information the InterNIC deems necessary. Please note, allocations are not based solely on a predicted customer base. Initial allocations will be relatively small. Subsequent allocated blocks may be increased based on utilization verification supplied to the InterNIC. Subsequent allocations of CIDR block addresses will be based on need; this need will be demonstrated based on the number of reassignment actions that have been transmitted to the InterNIC Registry. Reassignment information is to be forwarded to the InterNIC within 7 days of the assignment so that the WHOIS may be maintained efficiently. Transmission of reassignment information is also necessary for the following reasons: a) To ensure that a provider has exhausted, or is about to exhaust its current CIDR allocation such that an additional allocation is justified. b) To allow operational people to see which organization is using the network and who to contact in the event of operational/security problems, etc. c) To assist in IP allocation studies. There are two options available for tracking reassignment information: 1) Shared WHOIS Project (SWIP) Reassignment actions can be submitted by utilizing the database exchange format defined by the SWIP project. Information regarding SWIP may be obtained via anonymous FTP from rs.internic.net (198.41.0.5). The files may be found under the ftp/pub/swip directory. [ URL = ftp://rs.internic.net/ftp/pub/swip ] 2) RWhois RWhois is a distributed database for hierarchical information. Information on RWHOIS can be found at rs.internic.net, ftp/pub/rwhois. [ URL = ftp://rs.internic.net/ftp/pub/rwhois ] ALL ISPs, regardless of where they receive their CIDR blocks should either SWIP the reassignment information or establish an RWHOIS server. If SWIP is the chosen method, ISPs should register with the InterNIC as an ISP to receive a maintainer ID necessary to SWIP the reassignment information. ISPs are required to assign address space based on utilization efficiency. To this end, ISPs should have documented justification available for each assignment. The InterNIC may at any time ask to see this justification, if not available, this could impact future allocations. Any ISP whose customer has a requirement of 64 Class C's or more should forward the template to the InterNIC for review. The following information should accompany the request: Network engineering plans, including subnets and host counts, and hosts per subnet with projected utilization rates and associated confidence levels of those projects for one and two years in the future. Deployment schedule for the network, including major milestones for each subnet Network topology diagrams All ISPs receiving /16 prefix blocks from the InterNIC will be responsible for maintaining all IN-ADDR.ARPA domain records for their respective customers. The InterNIC Registry will only be responsible for the maintenance of IN-ADDR.ARPA domain records for those CIDR blocks with prefixes longer than /16 issued directly from the InterNIC. -- Mark Kosters markk@internic.net +1 703 742 4795 Software Engineer InterNIC Registration Services