3.4 Enforcement of IPv4 Address New Rules and Revision of Document

(IP address and AS Number Assignment Working Group)

In the previous newsletter, I briefly discussed world trends in IP address allocation and assignment resulting from changes in IANA and regional registry policies accompanying the rapid growth of the Internet. Since the policy document was accepted by the Executive Council, it was determined that APNIC will adopt its policy for the time being. As I mentioned in the previous issue, JPNIC also revised its policy and revised documents in order to keep up with world trends. A draft of these documents was released on October 1, and the opinions of the members regarding the documents were gathered until October 15. These were submitted to the JPNIC Steering Committee to be approved, and were released on October 29 as official documents scheduled to go into effect on January 28, 2000.

The major differences from the previous procedures are as follows.

1. A new concept called AW (Assignment Window) was adopted as a requirement for JPNIC deliberation preceding assignment to the customer.
2. Evaluation methods for allocation requests have been changed, as have submission information requirements.

About AW

AW is a system, which is adopted by such regional registries as APNIC, wherein the degree of work entrusted to members increases depending on their assignment experience and knowledge. An AW is determined for each member. This is a maximum address block size that members can assign on their own judgement without requesting a second opinion by JPNIC. The AW size at the time of introduction (January 2000) for this system will start with /25 for existing members and zero for new members. This means that existing members can handle assignment of over /25 using their own judgement; for greater than that, members must send a second opinion request to JPNIC to obtain approval. New members are required to get JPNIC approval for all assignments. JPNIC will study the adequacy of the references collected from customers at the time of assignment based on the submitted information. If JPNIC determines that a member understands the policy (as stipulated by JPNIC) and is performing assignments accordingly, the AW size for that member will be increased. That is, a member will increase its discretion as their capacity for judging assignments increases.

Previously, second opinion request was mandatory when the total amount of address space for assignment to be used by an organization is over /21. However, it is now necessary only when the assignment amount exceeds the AW size. This means that JPNIC's idea that second opinion is always necessary for networks bigger than a certain size was changed to the idea that members can handle more and more amount as they gain experience in assignment. It may be hard at first but may become easier as they become accustomed to assignment policies.

The AW size is to be reviewed at each second opinion request. JPNIC believes that it is important for members to fully understand the background of JPNIC's policy in order to orient themselves to the AW concept. To this end, we are trying to explain it at a series of JPNIC Office Contacts Meetings, in publication, and at seminars held at events.

Most important for a registry is knowing how to use limited IPv4 address space effectively. Specifically, classless assignment should be considered (do not assign 1 or 2 of class C unit). Other points to consider are to assign without increasing the number of entries in the global routing table, and fair assignment within a community.

If a member performs assignments with these policies in mind, the AW size will be increased and JPNIC will grant the member more latitude. There is no doubt that it would be good for the entire Internet community if all members were to apply these policies.

Application for address allocations

To date, JPNIC has allocated address space to a member after the member has submitted a report indicating that more than 80% of previously assigned address space has been assigned. From now, however, the amount used for the member's infrastructure will be evaluated at the time the allocation request is submitted. Based on the assignment reports, JPNIC will create a summary of the assigned address space and evaluate member performance based on their assignment pattern. Since evaluation is required when an assignment request is submitted, AW is reviewed as well. Thus, AW is reviewed at each evaluation to increase the size in an appropriate and timely manner.

Additionally, network information details are no longer required in the assignment report of address space used for the infrastructure. It is assumed that the information was submitted and approved at the time of allocation. With this modification, the need to complete a huge amount of information is now eliminated. With regard to submitting sufficient infrastructure information, JPNIC has explained on many occasions what kind of references we need, and why we need the information. Each network configuration in Japan's Internet business is different and it is extremely difficult to explain everything exhaustively. I do, however, want to talk about what kind of information is useful for issuing approvals for assignments.

As for dial-up networks, for each POP (access points, branches), to submit such information it is desirable that the description include such information as the type of access server, the number of ports, the number of equipment installation plan bands (PRI), a topology diagram, and which POP address is assigned.

Regarding virtual hosting, it is useful to submit information that indicates the use of address space. For example, such information could include customer lists (the name and address can be hidden), serial numbers and user lists (names can be hidden), whether or not HTTP/1.1 is used, and if not, is its use being considered.

This information is simply for reference purposes and we certainly are not saying it would be perfect. We do, however, hope you will provide enough network information to understand the network for the people who review the requests.

New JPNIC documents

JPNIC made significant revisions to its documentation in accordance with changes to policy. It was not simply a matter of rewriting existing documentation, but we paid attention to making the structure easy to understand. The documentation was divided into separate categories such as policies, procedures, and forms; a total of 21 titles of documentation have been completed. We hope to reflect public opinion in the documentation when the draft is released for public comment, and that it helps document readers to easily understand. JPNIC is hoping to provide better services that are good for its members, as well as being beneficial to the world Internet community.

Thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation.