FAQ: General Resources
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How can I obtain IP addresses?
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Ask your Local Internet provider or find a member of the RIPE NCC (LIR)
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Do I need to become an LIR?
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The RIPE NCC leaves the decision whether or not to become a Local Internet Registry (LIR) up to the organisation itself. Any organisation with a legally established office in the RIPE NCC service region can become an LIR.
We advise organisations who require their own routeable block and are in need of a large amount of addresses (/21) to become an LIR. In other cases an organisation in need of addresses should first try to acquire address-space from an upstream provider to ensure the conservation and aggregation goals as promoted by the RIPE community.
For more information regarding the setup of a Local Internet Registry, please visit our new members area.
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What is a Local Internet Registry (LIR)?
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A Local Internet Registry is a term used to describe the members of the RIPE NCC. They are called LIRs because they are responsible for the distribution of address space & registration of the address space on a local level.
The LIRs also ensure that policies and procedures are followed on the local level. Organisations that become LIRs are mainly Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that assign and allocate address space on to their customers, Telecom and Enterprise organisations, as well as Academic institutions. Academic institutions are organisations that require large blocks of address space that cannot be obtained from an upstream provider.
For more information about Local Internet Registries please see the membership section.
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Can I buy IP addresses from the RIPE NCC?
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In short: No. IP addresses are a shared public resource and are not for sale. Effective management of this resource is vital to maintain the ongoing health of the Internet.
If you obtain IP addresses from the RIPE NCC, then you will have the right to continue using those addresses provided that you use them in accordance with the allocation and assignment policies set by the RIPE community and provided that your membership remains current (or, in the case of non-members, that you continue to pay the required maintenance fees).
More information can be found in the RIPE Document 'IPv4 Address Allocation and Assignment Policies in the RIPE NCC Service Region' located at:
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How much do IP addresses cost?
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The RIPE NCC does not sell IP addresses. Use of IP addresses is subject to membership fees being paid and renewed.
For more details see the current version of the "RIPE NCC Billing Procedure and Fee Schedule" at:
http://www.ripe.net/lir-services/member-support/info/billing/billing-fees-lir
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Can non-members receive registration services from the RIPE NCC?
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No. Registration Services are only available to the members of the RIPE NCC. Organisations often become a member of the RIPE NCC because they need to be multihomed and use external gateway protocols (e.g. BGP4) or they need large amounts of IP address space for their operations as an Internet Service Providers (ISP).
To receive registration services from the RIPE NCC, an organisation needs to become a member of the RIPE NCC.
In most cases, organisations can obtain IP addresses from an upstream service provider and there is no need to obtain address space directly from the RIPE NCC. If your organisation is interested in becoming a member of the RIPE NCC please see this page.
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Can I obtain a class C address block?
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Classful addressing (class A, class B, class C, etc) is now redundant and the RIPE NCC no longer uses that terminology. The original model for distributing IP addresses, based on classful addressing strategies, did not take into account the massive expansion of Internet use and was unable to scale to meet this expansion. Classless Inter Domain Routing (CIDR) is now one of the fundamental requirements for eligibility to receive IP address ranges.
All requests for address space must be supported by documentation showing a technically justified need for the quantity requested (that is, they must be used efficiently, according to best current practice). Quantities of address space are now referred to by their prefix length (or subnet mask). For example, /24 ("slash 24") refers to 256 IP address numbers, or the equivalent of a former class C; and /19 refers to 8,192 IP address numbers, or the equivalent of 32 former class Cs.
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Why should I get IP addresses from my ISP rather than the RIPE NCC?
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For one thing, the RIPE NCC cannot guarantee that any address space it allocates will be globally routable. This is because the filtering policies implemented by transit providers around the world are beyond the RIPE NCC's control. The best way to avoid filtering problems is to ensure that your network is numbered into the address range of a larger network (such as your upstream ISP), so that many addresses can be aggregated and announced globally as a single route. The shorter prefix of such a global route will increase its chances of being unaffected by the filtering policies of large transit providers.
It is also in the interests of the Internet community as a whole that the number of separate routes injected into the global routing tables is kept to a minimum. Encouraging organisations to obtain address space from upstream ISPs wherever possible is important to achieving this aim.
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Can the RIPE NCC recommend a service provider in my area?
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No, the RIPE NCC cannot do this. You are however, welcome to browse The RIPE NCC list of members. Please bear in mind, though, that the RIPE NCC does not make any representations as to the suitability or types of services of any of its members.
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How can I influence the policies and procedures?
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Anyone in the RIPE (Réseaux IP Européens) community can suggest a new policy or a change to an existing policy. You do not have to be a member of the RIPE NCC. The RIPE community is an important source of public input for the RIPE NCC. You can find out more about the policy development process at:
http://www.ripe.net/ripe/policies/The main purpose of RIPE Meetings and RIPE Working Groups is to discuss technical and policy issues affecting Internet administration and operation in the RIPE NCC service region and beyond. The RIPE NCC reports at RIPE meetings and asks for feedback from participants about its services and projects. The RIPE community can influence the annual activity plan of the RIPE NCC. You can find the current RIPE NCC activity plan at:
http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ap.-
Can I register a domain with the RIPE NCC?
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No, the RIPE NCC is not involved in domain name registration. Your ISP may be able to help you register a domain name. For more information about tld (top level domain) and cctld (country code top level domain) registrations, visit the ICANN or CENTR
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Does the RIPE NCC provide technical support to its members?
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The RIPE NCC does not provide technical support to their members. The RIPE NCC is responsible for the management of IP address resources in its service region but is not responsible for the technical operations of its members.
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Where can I find who is responsible for domain name registration in my area?
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For generic TLD's (.com/.net/.org) contact a gTLD registrar.
http://www.icann.org/registrars/accreditation-qualified-list.htmlFor country code TLD's (where 'area' = 'country') see
http://www.iana.org/cctld/cctld-whois.htm-
I am an Internet Service Provider. Should I register with RIPE?
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No. You do not have to register with RIPE, as RIPE is an open forum and has no formal membership. RIPE is a collaborative organisation open to all parties interested in the wide area IP networks.
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I would like to change providers. Can I take the addresses currently used to the new provider?
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There are two types of IPv4 address space: Provider Aggregatable (PA) and Provider Independent (PI).
- If you are an End User with PA addresses and change to a new provider, you are required to return the addresses to your previous provider.
- If you are an LIR and have PA address space allocated by the RIPE NCC, you do not have to return the address space if you change your upstream provider.
- PI address space remains assigned to its End User as long as the criteria for the original assignment are met.
For further information on PA and PI address space please refer to the RIPE Document "IPv4 Address Allocation and Assignment Policies in the RIPE NCC Service Region" section 9: Provider Independent vs Provider Aggregatable Addresses.
