APNIC Annual Member Meeting 2000Discussion Document: Current NIR Address Request Process - Overview and ProposalDRAFT v1.2AbstractThe existing procedures for National Internet Registries (NIRs) to follow when requesting a block of additional address space from APNIC have been in place for three years and have served the needs of both NIRs and ISP confederations. Given that the membership structures for allocating address space by these two entities is fundamentally different, the use of a single form and set of procedures has always been problematic. With the recent separation of confederations into NIRs and ISP confederations, it is now appropriate to re-examine these procedures and to consider a review of the address request form. Specifically, this paper examines the request process for NIRs. It is expected that any changes to the existing process will be subject to careful and thorough review by all NIRs. This paper makes some specific recommendations but does not redefine the current request form. A framework for undertaking this on an ongoing basis is expected as an outcome of the NIR meeting at APRICOT 2000 on 1 March. Current proceduresTo request an additional allocation of address space, NIRs currently complete a 'Confederation Address Request' form (APNIC-075 ftp://ftp.apnic.net/apnic/docs/confed-address-request). This form was designed to cater for both NIRs and ISP confederations and has been in use without modification since 1997. Each NIR submits address assignment and allocation information listing allocations and reservations made for each member, customer assignments made by each member and assignments made directly by the confederation themselves. This is done to substantiate that at least 80 percent of the address space allocation received from APNIC has been used by the NIR. Additional address space can also be requested when an LIR member of an NIR submits a request that is greater than the pool of available address space held by the NIR. ProblemsVolume Typically NIRs are allocated an address range that exceeds any allocation made to an LIR. The total pool of address space held by an NIR is often very large. When requesting new allocations, the NIR will submit an overview of the last allocation it received. Because the assignment to customers of long prefixes is now common, the size of a single request sent by an NIR is often extremely large, amounting to many pages of information. For example, requests have been received which are around 2MB in size. Both compiling and evaluating this quantity of information in a qualitative way is very time consuming. If the evaluation could be distributed across the duration of an allocation, rather than at a single point in time, the process could be more efficient for both NIRs and APNIC. Timeliness When an NIR submits a request with only 20 percent of their address pool remaining, there is often considerable pressure on all concerned for an allocation to be granted quickly, leading to potential problems in the evaluation. If there are queries concerning specific allocations or assignments, the actual time taken to resolve a request can often be very lengthy. This can mean that requests by LIRs to an NIR for an additional address allocation can be held up by the processing of the NIR request as a whole. Incomplete data The address request form currently requires that NIRs declare all the address space they hold. However, due to the volume of documentation required, NIRs typically send in details of their last allocations only. This means that up to 20 percent of any previous allocation may go unreported. Database consistency In the past there have been a number of problems with the database entries associated with the NIR ranges. Assignments have not been registered, allocations have not been registered, and NIC handles have been used incorrectly without reference to the appropriate people. The magnitude of the problem is considerably greater when an NIR only has contact with APNIC at the time of requesting an additional allocation. More frequent contact would enable any problems to be identified and fixed earlier. Differing methodologies The table below gives an overview of the parts of the APNIC procedural framework followed by the respective NIRs.
While it is necessary that each NIR is able to define their own local procedures for address requests, there is a clear trade off against the need for consistency. In the interests of fairness and consistency to all members, and also of compliance with global RIR policies, APNIC strongly believes that NIRs should follow consistent procedures. Management overhead The IR system globally is one of delegated authority. Responsibility for the management of the address space is delegated to the users of the address space. However, increasing the number of layers of delegated authority, increases the management complexity. While the fine detail of specific NIR procedures and local policy variations is not fully understood by APNIC and while each NIR is different, in the interests of fairness and consistency to all members, it is necessary that APNIC collects detailed documentation from all NIRs in order to ensure that policies are complied with. If, however, there is a common framework, then the management of the delegation becomes much less complex. ProposalIn seeking to improve the mechanics of the procedures by which NIRs request additional address space from APNIC, an alternative framework to the one above, which is consistent across all NIRs, would simplify the overall approach to management. A number of related suggestions are offered to the NIRs for discussion.
The futureAPNIC is currently developing software which will automate the allocation of address space to members once an approval for a subsequent allocation has been given. APNIC would like to plan in the future to make this software interface available to NIRs so that they are able to query the interface and obtain the next contiguous block for their members. This would mean that address space would not be held by an NIR but that through an encrypted session they were able to obtain the next block for an individual member without interaction from APNIC hostmasters. The management by APNIC and NIRs of a common pool of IP space will reduce address space fragmentation which is a problem with the current model. |