IPv4 Verification

We recognise that the static assignment of IP addresses may be necessary for "always on" connections where broadband services are provided (with or without the use of DHCP).

Requirements

The statistics should show the following:

• the IP capacity for each area/pool of IPs
• the IP usage for each area/pool of IPs (min/avg/max on a daily/weekly/monthly basis)

All acronym's and text in the statistics should be in English or be accompanied by an English translation.

Method of Verification

The RIPE NCC will ask for statistics on current usage of “always on” services when:

• An LIR reaches the /20 threshold of broadband usage.
• An ISP (or End User) reaches the /20 threshold of broadband usage.

The statistics should clearly show the current address space in use for the broadband service and the efficient usage of that address space.

Presentation of Verification

The form of verification is flexible. We are not restricting LIRs in the presentation of the usage of their assignments, as long as it shows that the address space for the technology is being used efficiently. LIRs can choose whatever method is easiest for them.

Possible ways of verification include IP usage statistics presented by tools such as MRTG or RRD (frequently used open-source tools).

Some LIRs have set up password protected websites through which we can access the IP usage statistics. These website are only accessible from our IP range: 193/19 in IPv4 and 2001:610:240::/42, 2001:67c:2e8::/48 and 2001:67c:64::/48 in IPv6.

It should be noted that bandwidth data does not accurately show the IP usage, although it can be used as an additional indication of the growth of the service. Without data showing IP address usage or the amount of customers that use the service, bandwidth information does not qualify as verification.

Example

We've put together some sample graphs using the MRTG tool to show you IPv4 stats that show usage over time as well as utilisation. This is only an example meant to illustrate the kinds of statistics useful to us. We are not suggesting that all LIRs use MRTG.

If we can see that 70% of the assigned IP addresses assigned to the LIR are being used, then there is clear evidence that an additional IP assignment is warranted.

As the assignment periods change, the IP efficiency usage ratio will also gradually increase until the RIPE NCC pool of IPv4 addresses is fully depleted.