________________________________________________________________________ prop-066-v004: Ensuring efficient use of historical IPv4 resources ________________________________________________________________________ Authors: Brenda D. Tarimel btarimel@palaunet.com Philip Smith pfs@cisco.com James Spenceley james@vocus.com.au Version: 4 Date: 28 August 2008 1. Introduction ---------------- This is a proposal to require documentation of all historical address resources held when assessing an APNIC account holder's eligibility for more IPv4 addresses. 2. Summary of current problem ------------------------------ The unallocated pool of IPv4 addresses is predicted to run out within the next few years. As the unallocated pool dwindles, it is important to ensure that the remaining IPv4 addresses are allocated responsibly and fairly. Currently, when LIRs apply for new IPv4 allocations from APNIC, they only have to include the past allocations they have received from APNIC as part of the documentation and justification process. They do not have to declare any historical addresses [1] they may have received prior to receiving address space from APNIC. As a result of this, there is a large amount of historical IPv4 address space where little or nothing is known about its use. At the moment LIRs can receive more scarce IPv4 address space from APNIC while at the same time hoarding unused historical address space. This uses up the remaining IPv4 pool more rapidly than is really necessary. 3. Situation in other RIRs --------------------------- The situation in other RIRs is as follows: AfriNIC and the RIPE NCC only ask for utilisation of previous allocations and assignments made by AfriNIC and the RIPE NCC respectively. They do not require legacy holdings to be declared. ARIN and LACNIC always ask for utilisation for all previous allocations and assignments, including all legacy holdings. This proposal has not been submitted to any other region. 4. Details of the proposal --------------------------- This is a proposal to require documentation of all historical address resources held when assessing an APNIC account holder's eligibility for more IPv4 addresses. - This proposal applies to all historical resources as defined in "Policies for historical Internet resources in the APNIC Whois Database" [1]. Historical records include: - Registrations transferred to APNIC as part of the AUNIC to APNIC migration A list of resources transferred to APNIC as part of the migration is available at: http://www.apnic.net/db/aunic/ - Registrations transferred as part of the Early Registration Transfer (ERX) project A list of resources transferred to APNIC as part of the ERX project is available at: http://www.apnic.net/db/erx - Historical APNIC resources Historical APNIC resources were delegated to organisations by APNIC prior to the introduction of a membership structure. These resources have always been registered in the APNIC Whois Database, but if the resource holder did not become an APNIC member at any time after the introduction of the membership structure, the resources were not made subject to current APNIC policies. - Historical IPv4 resources that are not managed under the existing historical maintenance or transfer policies will remain free of fees. 5. Advantages and disadvantages of the proposal ------------------------------------------------ 5.1 Advantages - Ensures that organisations are using scarce IPv4 address space resources to the fullest extent possible. - The utilisation of historical IPv4 addresses will be brought into line with current best practices for address management. - The remaining IPv4 free pool will be delegated to LIRs that have a genuine need for IP addresses. 5.2 Disadvantages - Organisations can no longer hoard unused address space while at the same time receive more scarce address space from APNIC's pool. - LIRs with historical IPv4 addresses may find it time consuming to change network architecture that uses historical IPv4 addresses in an inefficient manner. However, the difficulties felt by these networks is outweighed by the greater benefits of ensuring that the remaining IPv4 address space is delegated to networks with a genuine need for IPv4 allocations. 6. Effect on APNIC members --------------------------- APNIC members who have applied best practices for address space management for all their address ranges will not be affected. APNIC members who have not applied best practices for all their address ranges may need to modify their management of historical addresses before they can qualify for IPv4 addresses from APNIC. There will be no impact on fees paid by members. 7. Effect on NIRs ------------------ The proposal has no direct impact on NIRS, but impacts members of NIRs in the same way it impacts APNIC members. 8. References --------------- [1] Historical resources definition http://www.apnic.net/policy/historical-resource-policies.html#2.2