RIPE NCC Activities, Expenditures,
and Charging Scheme 2002
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João Luis Silva Damas
Daniel Karrenberg
Mirjam Kühne
Axel Pawlik
Version 1.2
Document ID: ripe-226
Date: 14 September 2001
Updates: ripe-213
Table of Contents
Process
Executive Summary
Growth Plan
Budget
Membership Services
Registration Activities
Test Traffic Measurements
Co-ordination Activities
New Activities
Administration Activities
Charging Scheme
Challenges
APPENDIX
M - Membership Services
M1 Regional Internet Registry
M2 Initial Support for New LIRs
M3 Liaison and Co-ordination
M4 Test Traffic Measurements (TTM)
M5 Membership - RIPE NCC Interaction Facilities
C - Co-ordination Activities
C1 RIPE Database Maintenance and Development
C2 Information Services, Communication, and Education
C3 DNS Co-ordination
C4 RIPE Meetings
N - New Activities
N1 Routing Information Service (RIS)
N2 Deployment of Internet Security Infrastructure (DISI)
N3 Unforeseen Activities
Process
This document contains the planned activities for the RIPE NCC and the
associated expenditures for the year 2002, as well as the charging scheme
to ensure the necessary revenues. The RIPE NCC, based on input from RIPE
and users of RIPE NCC services, has drafted the document. The Executive
Board of the RIPE NCC presents it to the RIPE NCC members. The members
approve the final version at the Annual
General Meeting. No changes are made to the document after its approval.
The text in this document does not affect or change any policies or
procedures defined in any other published RIPE documents.
Executive Summary
The total budget for the 2002 planned activities is kEUR 9,593. The
increase of 21% in the total expenditure is due primarily to an increase
in the Registration Services workload, additional projects, and the required
increase in personnel to ensure a high quality of service. Due to the
renewal of rental leases, the cost of housing also went up for 2002. The
activities directly pertaining to members show increases in spending,
ranging from 24% to 89%.
Administrative costs show a decrease of 9%. Fees for Local Internet Registries
(LIRs) will be reduced by approximately 14% to EUR 1,800, EUR 2,500 and
EUR 3,400 for Small, Medium, and Large LIRs respectively. Total revenues
are expected at kEUR 9,622.
An operating plan must be able to be adapted to changing circumstances.
Any amendments to the RIPE NCC Activities, Expenditures, and Charging
Scheme 2002 will be made within the formal structure of the RIPE NCC Association
and therefore require the approval of the RIPE NCC Executive Board. No
fee adjustment will be made in the course of the year.
Growth Plan
Following an analysis of the development of the growth over 2001, the
increase of LIRs is estimated at 540 for 2002 or approximately 1.5 members
per calendar day. This is an increase of 0.25 members per calendar day
in relation to the budgeted increase of 1.25 members/day in the 2001 budget.
The projections for the remainder of 2001 and the year 2002 are as follows:
| . |
Actual
|
Projected
|
|
|
LIRs
|
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
|
Small
|
935 |
1,257 |
1,978 |
2,620 |
3,160 |
|
Medium
|
253 |
346 |
459 |
598 |
598 |
|
Large
|
75 |
93 |
130 |
159 |
159 |
|
| Total |
1,263 |
1,696 |
2,567 |
3,377 |
3,917 |
The growth in the number of LIRs is but one indicator of the growth and workload.
Estimates for the increase in workload for Registration Services are based
on this, as well as on the number of tickets handled by the Hostmasters.
It is expected that the Hostmasters will be handling 30,000 tickets in
2002 (25,000 tickets estimated for 2001), based on past statistics and
a linear extrapolation from them.
Budget
The budgeted costs for the various activities for 2002 (with 2001 for
comparative purposes) are shown below in kEUR.
| Activity Area |
2001
|
%
|
2002
|
%
|
Change
|
%
|
|
Registration
Co-ordination
Test Traffic Measurements
New Activities
Administration
|
3,539
2,225
459
637
1,064
|
44.7%
28.1%
5.8%
8.0%
13.4%
|
4,367
2,419
868
976
963
|
45.5%
25.2%
9.1%
10.2%
10.0%
|
829
194
409
339
-101
|
23.4%
8.7%
89.2%
53.3%
-9.5%
|
|
| Total |
7,924
|
100% |
9,593
|
100% |
1,669
|
21.1%
|
The increase in the budget for 2002 is 21.1%, including a special reserve
of EUR 200,000 or 2.1% of total costs for various contingencies. Because
this reserve touches on several of the activity areas, it has been distributed
among them based on the Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) required by each
activity.
Total Income 2002
The projected total income for the year 2002 (in kEUR) is derived from
the various sources as follows:
| New
LIRs |
|
| 540 |
Sign up Fees |
1,134 |
| 540 |
Small |
486 |
|
| Existing
LIRs |
| 2,620 |
Small |
4,716 |
| 598 |
Medium |
1,495 |
| 159 |
Large |
541 |
| Billing Charge |
|
81 |
|
| Total Fee Income |
|
8,453 |
| Other
Income |
| |
RIPE Meeting |
473 |
| |
TTM Service Fees |
375 |
| |
Interest |
322 |
|
| Total Income |
|
9,623 |
These revenues will provide a surplus of approximately EUR 30,000 or
just over 0.3% of the total budgeted cost of the activities.
Membership Services
Registration Activities
Registration activities represent operations relating to the RIPE NCC
role as a Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for its service region. They
include the handling of requests for assignment and allocation of IP address
space and AS numbers, management of reverse domain name space associated
with this address space, and the auditing and quality control necessary
to ensure fair and expedient processing of requests.
Also included are training of Local Internet Registries, preparation
and writing of documentation related to Internet registration policies
and procedures, and specific activities that guarantee a proper and appropriate
start for new LIRs. Services provided in this area are available only
to members that contribute to the funding of the RIPE NCC.
The focus in Registration Services (RS) in 2002 will be on coping with
the continued rapid growth and planning for future challenges and workload.
A firm decision has been made to increase the current staffing of Hostmasters
to secure full control of the workload. This will enable the RS to cope
with the high peaks of the workload, in addition to the normal workload
in the Registration Services. These resources will be invested in stabilising
the services provided and additional efforts will be devoted to improve
efficiency and quality. With this aim, the RIPE NCC will focus on documentation,
education of newer members, and improving internal processes and procedures.
With past and future staffing increases in the Registration Services,
it is recognised that higher focus on the management of the department
will be required. It is vital to continue the pro-active development of
address policies as this has a significant influence on the operations
of both the RS and the membership.
The RIPE NCC has therefore split the Registration Services manager function,
which has been replaced with the more specific 'Registration Services
Operations Manager' function and the 'Internet Address Policy Manager'
function. With these two new functions in place, the RIPE NCC is thus
injecting more resources and focus on both these areas. The results of
this change are expected to show in the year 2002.
As the LIR Training Course has proven to be an effective method for quickly
educating newer members, it will be increased from the current level of
50 courses per year. Additions to the pool of trainers will be considered
and the course material will be further refined.
Based on recent increase in demand in IPv6, the interest in IPv6 is expected
to continue to grow at a stable rate. IPv6 address space registration
will become increasingly important. The RIPE NCC continues to gain more
experience with IPv6 and Registration Services is becoming progressively
skilled in handling requests for IPv6 address space. The RIPE NCC will
continue its close co-ordination work with the other RIRs in the evaluation
of IPv6 requests, and the development of IPv6 address assignment and allocation
policies and procedures. The RIPE NCC will invest further efforts in gaining
operational experience with IPv6 to increase its overall understanding.
Developments in the area of WAP, GPRS, UMTS, 3G, and other technologies
related to the Internet and the services provided by the RIPE NCC will
be followed carefully, keeping abreast with relevant technologies. It
will also continue its current co-operation with other relevant Internet
organisations, ensuring a constant injection of technical knowledge and
awareness in the Registration Services.
Liaison activities with other existing RIRs will further intensify, resulting
in enhanced co-ordination in matters related to Internet Address and ASN
policies. Current support to emerging RIRs, particularly AfriNIC, will
also continue in the coming year.
Test Traffic Measurements
The goal of the Test Traffic Measurements (TTM) is to conduct independent
measurements of performance related quantities of the Internet and in
particular between the networks operated by the membership. Examples of
such quantities are the delay, loss, or routing vector between two points.
To measure these quantities, the RIPE NCC installs dedicated measurement
stations (so-called "test-boxes"), operates them, analyses the
data, and reports the results to the participants.
Since July 2001, sites participating in the TTM are charged an (pro-rated)
annual service fee of EUR 3,000 for the first test-box and EUR 1,500 each
for the second and additional test-boxes. They also pay for the costs
of the hardware installed at their site. The resources budgeted for 2002
provide the means to:
- Continue to run and expand the network;
- Offer services to the sites already participating in the project;
- Pursue the development of new services based on the Test Traffic data;
- Offer user training on how to use the TTM data in daily operations; and
- Develop additional measurements using the test-boxes.
This activity represents about 16.6% of the total Membership Services budget.
Additional information on Test Traffic Measurements can be found at:
http://www.ripe.net/test-traffic.
Co-ordination Activities
The common purpose of these diverse activities is to support the coherent
operation of the Internet in the RIPE region. The primary activity is
the provision of access to the RIPE Database, providing information about
address space, routing policies and reverse DNS information together with
the appropriate contact points.
Development and publication of RIPE Database software, provision of information
services for ISPs and the public via the Internet fall under co-ordination
activities.
Operational co-ordination also comes under this category as does the
production and publication of software tools for such efforts.
Other important co-ordination activities include the maintenance of the
root name server that the RIPE NCC operates.
The services performed in this area, to be effective, must be constantly
accessible to the Internet community. Whenever special support is needed,
the RIPE NCC members receive priority over other users.
Another key co-ordination activity is the organisation of the three RIPE
Meetings every year. These meetings have extended their traditional discussions
and now also play an important role in the work of the ICANN
Address Supporting Organisation. Although the fees charged cover direct
costs such as venue and equipment rental, meals, etc., of the RIPE meetings,
the RIPE NCC covers all the indirect costs. These include the logistical
support, registration, documentation, minute taking, the maintenance of
the RIPE web site, etc. These amount to approximately 2.5 Full Time Equivalents.
Legitimacy and representation of the RIPE NCC continue to be an important
focus for 2002. The Activity Plan for 2002 foresees more concentration
on new technologies and industries that could have an impact on IP address
usage rate and the Internet Registry System. External representation of
the RIPE NCC and the RIPE community to third party organisations (new
industries, governments, the European Parliament, ICANN, etc.) is also
a notable co-ordination activity.
During 2002, the RIPE NCC will ensure continued support to activities
related to the Routing Registry. These include the extension of activities
related to the Routing Registry Consistency Check (RRCC) project and the
responsibility for the support and development of the RAToolset.
During 2002, work will continue to increase support for IPv6 and multicast
applications in the IRR. Additionally, security aspects of interaction
with the RIPE Database will be an important item.
Efforts will be continued to provide proper data maintenance, data management,
and data analysis tools, including regular updates on the status of the
data in the database as well as general help with good data maintenance
practices. Database and related software will be actively maintained and
developed to ensure that new features are available to meet user needs.
During 2002, the RIPE NCC will spend additional efforts in increasing
flexibility and security in its interaction with the membership. The aim
is to provide a more user-friendly and secure means of interaction for
LIRs in their applications for Internet resources and the management of
information residing at the RIPE NCC servers (e.g., the RIPE Database).
New Activities
New Activities are either entirely unforeseen or have started recently
and are not yet at the stage where they can be developed as regular services.
Due to the impartial and neutral position of the RIPE NCC, it can play
an important role in facilitating new projects and services for its members
as well as for the RIPE community.
The impetus for New Activities comes from various sources: the RIPE NCC
itself, individuals and/or organisations within the RIPE community, and
the appropriate RIPE working groups.
If the activities require long-term support, they may become a regular
RIPE NCC activity subsequently funded by all members. If the activities
are short term but substantial or continued support by all members is
not appropriate, they may be continued as special projects for which funding
is sought separately among interested parties.
These activities fall under the guidance of the various RIPE working
groups with active participation of the RIPE NCC membership and the Internet
community.
In 2001, Test Traffic Measurements became a regular membership service.
It is therefore described in another section. There are two new projects
already underway, which will be further developed in 2002.
Deployment of Internet Security Infrastructure (DISI)
Security Deployment is a new activity started in late 2000. As the Internet
is used for more and more critical applications, security becomes increasingly
important. A lot of security technology has recently been developed and
now needs to be deployed throughout the Internet Infrastructure [RFC
2828]. Prominent examples are DNSSec [RFC
2535] and IPSec [RFC
2401].
The DISI project will support the RIPE community in deploying these technologies,
specifically those technologies that need to be deployed in the Internet
Infrastructure itself, rather than at the end sites only. This project
initially focuses on DNSsec and will later be expanded to other relevant
technologies.
As from the RIPE 40 Meeting, the RIPE NCC will start to offer courses
on securing a zone using DNSsec. Information and experience will also
be gathered by the deployment of the technologies within the RIPE NCC.
The information will be shared with the RIPE community in additional workshops
and white papers.
During the start-up phase of this project, it has become clear that a
lot of work still needs to be done on the technology and the implementations
before DNSSEC can be deployed in a large scale production environment.
The RIPE NCC has therefore set up collaborations with NLnet-labs, Nominum,
and other parties interested in these technologies to help improve the
deploy-ability of DNSSEC. This is also pursued by active involvement in
the relevant IETF working groups. DISI will continue in 2002.
Routing Information Service (RIS)
The Routing Information Service collects BGP routing information at
several major exchange points in near real time and stores it in a database.
An interface similar to a "looking glass" then
provides both multiple views and information about specific times in the
past. This is a new and unique tool for ISP operations. Operators no longer
have to search for specific looking glass services covering the area of
interest. In addition, they can query for data at the specific time of
any problems.
The RIS database is also useful to the RIPE NCC itself as it provides
information about how resources allocated by the RIPE NCC are actually
used on the Internet over an extended period. During 2002, RIS will move
from a new activity to a regular part of the routing co-ordination services
available to the Internet at large.
Administration Activities
This area covers all general administrative overheads (building rental
and refurbishment, computer infrastructure, personnel, office supplies,
etc.) that cannot be clearly attributed to a specific activity in one
of the other areas.
Unforeseen Activities
As always, the RIPE NCC will be available to start new activities as
required by the membership and the RIPE community. We will continue to
actively pursue developments and spot new needs as the Internet develops.
We will continue to actively participate in the appropriate forums such
as IETF and NANOG.
Charging Scheme
The charges for 2002 are fixed annual charges and are based on the size
category of an LIR. A minimum `size category will be determined based
on address space allocations held by the LIR on 1 November 2001. The categories
will be published and LIRs changing in billing category size will be notified
by e-mail.
New Local Internet Registries established during 2002 will be charged
a sign-up fee, plus 25% of the annual fee for each quarter that they are
members. Their initial minimum size category will be SMALL. Enterprise
LIRs are classed as SMALL for charging purposes.
The proposed charges for 2002 are as follows (in EUR):
|
Annual Charge
|
2002 |
2001 |
2000 |
1999 |
1998 |
1997 |
|
|
SMALL
|
1,800 |
2,100 |
2,400 |
2,650 |
2,450 |
2,200 |
|
MEDIUM
|
2,500 |
2,950 |
3,350 |
3,700 |
3,400 |
3,000 |
|
LARGE
|
3,400 |
3,900 |
4,400 |
4,900 |
4,500 |
4,000 |
|
|
Sign Up
|
2,100 |
2,100 |
2,100 |
2,100 |
2,000 |
1,300 |
The proposed fees for 2002 are approximately 14 % lower than those of
2001, while the cost of the associated activities are approximately 21%
higher. This is due to the increased number of LIRs sharing the costs.
The charging model algorithm (see RIPE document, "Alternative Models
for RIPE NCC Revenue and Charging 1997" for more details) has been
used to determine the minimum size category for each LIR, based on the
address space allocations held by the LIR.
The projected distribution of small/medium/large size members in percent
for the year 2002, as compared to July 2001, is as follows:
|
Category |
2002 |
July 2001 |
|
|
|
| SMALL |
79.8% |
77.6% |
| MEDIUM |
15.7% |
17.7% |
| LARGE |
4.5% |
4.7% |
The expected changes of LIRs between the three size categories are
shown in detail below:
| From
To: |
SMALL |
MEDIUM |
LARGE |
|
| SMALL |
2,125 |
145 |
9 |
| MEDIUM |
92 |
330 |
28 |
| LARGE |
2 |
31 |
96 |
| |
|
|
|
The data for these tables can be found at: ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/local-ir/category-Jul-2001
and at ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/local-ir/allocs-Jul-2001
The minimum size category for each LIR for charging will be determined
based on the address space allocations held by that LIR on 1 November
2001. The minimum size category for all LIRs based on allocations received
before 1 November 2001 will be available at ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/local-ir/category-Nov-2001
The allocation data this is based on, as well as current registry size,
will be avaiable at ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/local-ir/allocs-Nov-2001.
All LIRs should check this data and report any inconsistencies to: <billing@ripe.net>.
Challenges
Managing the growth while remaining stable and professional in the delivery
of essential services to the membership remains the main challenge that
the RIPE NCC faces. The RIPE NCC will continue developing current and
new activities. It will keep abreast of leading edge developments and
services while maintaining enough flexibility to be able to react promptly
to the continually changing environment and embrace new technologies and
industry players.
The success of this plan lies in finding and keeping the people who work
to make it happen. The RIPE NCC will have to continue to offer an attractive
and challenging work environment.
APPENDIX
M - Membership Services
Activities included in Membership Services
relate directly to services provided to the RIPE NCC membership. Services
performed in this area are only accessible to established members of the
RIPE NCC.
M1 Regional Internet Registry
In its role as a Regional Internet Registry, the RIPE NCC provides allocation
and registration services to LIRs in its service region that covers Europe,
the Middle East, Central Asia, and African countries north of the equator.
The overall goal of this activity is to provide fair, impartial, and stable
distribution of Internet numbers (IPv4, IPv6, and AS) in its service region.
The specific goals for the distribution of address space are uniqueness
of addresses, conservation of IPv4 address space, procedure and policy
definition for IPv6 address space, aggregation of routing information,
and registration of network management information.
In correlation with the increase in the RIPE NCC membership, an associated
growth is experienced in the number of requests received from members.
The workload on Registration Services proportionately increases with the
steady, sometimes rapid, growth in membership. With the aim of balancing
human resources and workload, the staffing level of Registration Services
will further increase in 2002.
To minimise clerical work for RIPE NCC Hostmasters and provide fast feedback
to LIRs, a big effort is being made to automate the process of making
and processing requests. Supplementary attempts are made to develop and
improve the request forms.
Training courses for members is an additional activity. Looking at the
rate of growth in the RIPE NCC membership and seeing the constructive
outcome of these courses, it is recognised that the number of training
courses provided by Registration Services should be increased. More resources
to cope with this extra workload will be made available.
In 2002, both work flow and quality management will have to keep step
with the expected growth and ensure that peaks in the load do not create
unacceptable delays or a reduction in quality. The impartiality and neutrality
of the RIPE NCC has to be maintained at all times. The basic procedures
will change to focus on the content of address space requests and ease
the process of providing additional information. Common to all of registration
activities is liaison with the RIPE Local IR Working Group (LIR-WG) and
with the other RIRs about the general application of procedures and policies.
M1.1 Distribution of IPv4 Address Space
Description:
The RIPE NCC allocates IPv4 address space to the RIPE NCC members for
further address assignments to their own and End Users' networks. Special
attention is given to these allocation requests. Tools to support the
allocation process and ensure the best aggregation possible will be enhanced.
IPv4 address space assignments above a threshold size require approval from
the RIPE NCC. The RIPE NCC evaluates these assignment requests. Members can
ask a second opinion about assignments even when it is not required. In
addition the RIPE NCC gives recommendations and guidelines for future requests.
With regards to address allocations and assignments, the RIPE NCC provides special support for new members and beneficial guidance to established members.
Goal:
The process of allocating and assigning address space helps to ensure
a fair distribution of IPv4 addresses. It also supports the efficient
use of address space to conserve the remaining IPv4 address space and
to aggregate routing information.
Approval of IPv4 address space assignments ensures homogeneous application
of policies and assignment criteria by all RIPE NCC members (LIRs) and
helps them become familiar with request evaluation.
Assistance to new and established LIRs helps to process successfully
their address space requests and to provide a good understanding of policies
and procedures for further requests. This support also promotes a good
working relationship between the RIPE NCC and its members, and ensures
that the members are able to provide the same support to their customers.
Related Activities:
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Local IR WG
M1.2 Distribution of IPv6 Address Space
Description:
The RIPE NCC allocates IPv6 address space to its members. This includes
evaluating and auditing of assignments made from IPv6 allocations. Tools
to support the allocation process and to ensure the best aggregation possible
will be enhanced.
Goal:
This activity helps to ensure a fair distribution of IPv6 address space
and encourages the use of IPv6. It also supports the aggregation of IPv6
routing information.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Local IR WG, RIPE IPv6 WG
M1.3 Autonomous System Number (ASN) Assignments
Description
The RIPE NCC assigns AS numbers according to global and local policies.
It registers these numbers and the associated routing information. The
request form, supporting documentation and training materials will be
updated.
Goal:
This activity ensures uniqueness of AS numbers and helps collecting data
for the Routing Registry. It also helps to prevent unnecessary increases
in the number of autonomous systems that are visible in global Internet
Routing.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Local IR WG, RIPE Routing WG, RIPE Database WG
M1.4 Reverse Delegation
Description
The RIPE NCC delegates reverse DNS zones for the address ranges allocated
or assigned via the RIPE NCC. To provide this service, the RIPE NCC will
provide a reliable secondary nameserver and work to avoid pollution of
the DNS in the zones delegated to the RIPE NCC. Therefore, the RIPE NCC
will check all zones under its responsibility as to proper set-up and
functioning. Proactive checking of already delegated zones is an important
goal.
Goal:
This activity supports the proper address-to-name mapping for addresses
allocated to the RIPE NCC.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Local IR WG, RIPE DNS WG
M1.5 Consistency and Auditing
Description:
The RIPE NCC actively checks the quality and validity of Internet resource
registry data, including the production of statistics on address space
usage. To ensure fair address space distribution, the RIPE NCC regularly
checks that assignments are applied uniformly. This activity is separated
from the other registration activities as it is defined and carried out
independently from the day-to-day processing of requests. Consistency
checking and auditing are performed within other activities. Observations
are reported back to the RIPE Local IR Working Group for further investigations
and improvement of the procedures.
Goal:
This activity promotes a consistent and fair application of assignment
criteria relating to the conservation of address space and aggregation
of routing information. This activity assists in identifying parts of
the procedure that cause problems.
Related Activities:
All registration activities
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Local IR WG
M2 Initial Support for New LIRs
The initial support for newly established LIRs is provided in addition
to the other registration services. It is embedded as part of the process
to establish a new LIR. During this phase, additional clarification and
explanation is involved to familiarise the new and potential LIRs with
all procedures necessary to operate an Internet registry.
M2.1 LIR Set-up
Description:
The RIPE NCC provides information to potential LIRs and gives initial
support and help to LIRs during their set-up phase. Information and support
is also extended to potential LIRs.
Goal:
This activity supports new LIRs during their set-up phase to introduce
tools, procedures and guidelines. It also gives potential LIRs enough
information to make an informed choice as to whether or not they become
an LIR.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Local IR WG
M2.2 Training Courses
Description:
The RIPE NCC will further develop and continue to deliver Training Courses
for LIRs, both new and existing. The course material includes IP address
assignment and allocation procedures and policies, delegation of reverse
domains, and usage of the RIPE Database. Additional, more specific, courses
will also be developed.
Goal:
The goal of this activity is to familiarise the new LIRs with procedures
and policies and keep established LIRs up-to-date with new guidelines
and developments. This facilitates smooth operations between the RIPE
NCC and the LIRs. With the consistent application of policies the RIPE
NCC can ensure fair distribution of address space among the community.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Local IR WG
M3 Liaison and Co-ordination
Description:
To carry out activities for its members, the RIPE NCC acts as a liaison
and co-ordinates with a variety of organisations and tracks the activities
of others. Examples of such organisations are the IANA, ICANN, IETF, RIPE,
ARIN, and APNIC. It is often difficult to attribute liaison and co-ordination
resources to specific activities and it is therefore an activity in its
own right.
Goal:
To maintain the necessary relationship with other organisations related
to the operations of the RIPE NCC. Budgeting: Costs for this activity
are split evenly between the registration and co-ordination activity budget
lines.
M4 Test Traffic Measurements (TTM)
Description:
1. Continue to run a network of test-boxes. The RIPE NCC will
continue to operate a network of test-boxes as well as a service where
the host sites can retrieve the data produced by their text-boxes. To
improve the quality of the data and to detect problems with the test-boxes,
Data Quality Monitoring (DQM) will be done on a regular basis.
2. Expanding the measurement network.
The RIPE NCC will continue to promote the TTM service and install test-boxes
at interested sites. The promotion of the TTM service that was started
at RIPE 38 will be continued and expanded.
More focus will be put on communication with current and future test-box
hosts to better understand their requirements for performance measurements
and their needs for products based on the data.
Several sites have expressed interest in other versions of the test-box
hardware and these will be available late 2001 or early 2002.
Finally, the RIPE NCC will investigate the possibility to install test-boxes
at topologically interesting sites on the Internet such as exchange points
and popular web sites.
3. Run standard analysis. A standard analysis package will be
run on the data every day. This package will continue to be expanded based
on user feedback.
At RIPE 33, a method was proposed to detect unusual network conditions
and warn operators about them. The RIPE NCC will continue to offer this
service and, together with network operators, investigate how these warnings
can be interfaced with existing network monitoring tools.
On the latest model test-boxes, a web-based user interface will be installed.
This UI will allow the owner of the box to access a real-time, though
preliminary, analysis of the data collected with the test-box.
4. Continue development work on the project. Development work
on the project will continue in several different areas:
a. Based on the summary data, a model is being developed to describe
the data over long time intervals and to look for trends in the data
over time. This can be used as a planning tool for ISPs.
b. Metrics for throughput measurements are currently being studied
within the framework of the IETF IPPM Working Group. It is foreseen
that one of these metrics will be implemented on the test-boxes.
c. Other new metrics will be studied and, if feasible, implemented
on the test-boxes.
d. Development of interfaces to other applications such as Traffic
Engineering tools.
e. Implementation of other requests from current and future test-box
hosts.
f. Any developments in the Internet, related to the Test Traffic Measurements,
will be energetically followed and responded to.
5. User training. The RIPE NCC will investigate how end-to-end
performance data can be used in day-to-day ISP operations and provide
this information to its membership either as courses or white papers.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Test Traffic WG
M5 Membership - RIPE NCC Interaction Facilities
Description:
The goal of this activity is to develop and improve flexible and convenient
ways for LIRs and users in general to interact with the RIPE NCC's systems.
Particular attention will be dedicated to the security aspects of such
interactions to ensure privacy and authentication wherever needed.
Goal:
This activity aims at allowing access to the LIRs to securely access
and eventually update some of the information the RIPE NCC keeps in its
internal services regarding the LIR. It also includes front ends for other
RIPE NCC systems such as the RIPE Database. During 2002, this activity
will concentrate on the development and discussion of prototypes that
address the user's needs.
C - Co-ordination Activities
The activities performed in this area, to be effective, must be accessible
to the users of the Internet and the general public. Their common purpose
is to support the coherent operation of the Internet in the RIPE NCC area
of operation.
C1 RIPE Database Maintenance and Development
Description:
The RIPE Database is the core software on which the Regional IP Registry
and the RIPE Routing Registry are based. Reliability and rich functionality
of the RIPE Database are essential for the RIPE NCC, the LIRs in the RIPE
NCC service region and the Internet. By maintaining public releases, the
RIPE NCC hopes to encourage all LIRs to make use of the software and to
acquire the newest improvements. This encourages data exchange and co-operation
among LIRs.
The RIPE NCC will ensure the reliability of the RIPE Database and extend
its functionality as needed.
This set of activities is designed to provide consistent support and
provide a reliable service both in the short and long term, and to continue
developments according to the needs of the RIPE community.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Database WG
C1.1 User Support and Software Maintenance
Description:
The RIPE NCC manages a role mailbox for questions and comments and address
user questions promptly.
The RIPE NCC will also perform basic software maintenance activities
including bug fixes and minor modifications. All the results of these
software development efforts will be made publicly available.
This activity includes the maintenance and improvement of the system's
documentation.
Goal:
This activity is intended to provide a timely response to user enquiries.
It also helps assure the smooth operation of the Registry System.
Related Activity:
C1.4
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Database WG
C1.2 Consistency
Description:
The RIPE NCC works to prevent inconsistencies and inaccuracies in the
RIPE Database contents by improving syntax checks, modifying contact reference
mechanisms, and educating users.
The RIPE NCC helps users perform data maintenance activities to improve
the quality of data already in the RIPE Database. This includes reporting
problems to contacts where possible and providing tools that enable users
to correct and clean up their data. The RIPE NCC also produces regular
"State of the Database Reports" to monitor the quality of data over time.
Goal:
The value of the RIPE Database for its users depends on the quality
of the data. The goal of this activity is to monitor and improve the consistency
and accuracy of the data maintained in the RIPE Database.
Related Activity:
C1.6
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Database WG
C1.3 Database Availability and Exchange
Description:
The RIPE NCC provides access to the RIPE Database via Whois servers
and by supporting other sites in mirroring the data. For example, support
is given to other registries in setting up secondary database servers.
The RIPE NCC actively pursues and co-ordinates data exchange both with
other Regional IP Registries and other Routing Registries.
Goal:
This activity is intended to enable RIPE Database users to acquire the
information they need quickly and to help those outside the RIPE region
acquire information in the RIPE Database as easily as possible. This is
essential for both the IP and the Routing Registries.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Database WG and RIPE Routing WG
C1.4 New Database Features
Description:
The RIPE NCC designs and implements new database features as requested
by the user community or proposed by the RIPE NCC. It performs the development
work based on the priorities established in the appropriate RIPE working
groups.
The RIPE NCC also reports at these working groups about the results
of cooperation with other RIRs at a global level.
During 2002, effort will be renewed around the extension of RPSL functionality
to expand its capabilities to IPv6 and multicast routing description,
and achieving implementation of eventual agreed standards.
Goal:
The purpose of this activity is to provide new functionality to the
RIPE Database as the user community expresses the need for it.
Related Activities:
C1.1
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Database WG
C1.5 Routing Registry Tool Deployment and Training
Description:
The RIPE NCC works to create support tools such as RR tools and the
RAToolset. These tools will be made available to members of the RIPE community.
The RIPE NCC will deliver training courses to teach the RPSL language
and the use of the RR tools in configuring routers and examining policies
and routing in the Internet.
Goal:
The RIPE NCC will take on further development of the RAToolset after
completion of its transition from ISI/USC.
This toolkit allows router configurations to be generated and/or verified
from the contents of the routing registry as well as sanity checking of
the information registered at the RR. The goal of this activity is to
enable members of the RIPE community to exploit RPSL and define the development
of new RR tools.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Routing WG
C1.6 Routing Registry Consistency
Description:
This activity seeks to improve data quality in the Internet Routing
Registry as a public source of intended routing information (as described
by the maintainers of the data, the ISPs). It also aims to improve data
accessibility and processing capabilities to enable users to extract the
largest possible benefit from this information source.
Goal:
The objective of this activity is to provide a public, accurate, and
reliable source of information about public routing information in the
RIPE NCC service region, comparing the intended routing policies as described
in the IRR to the information actually exchanged by routing protocols.
A coupling to the RIPE NCC address assignment activities is also an objective.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Routing WG
C1.7 Security Mechanisms of the RIPE Database
Description:
This activity has traditionally been part of general RIPE Database development.
However, in today's world, a more dedicated focus on data access and maintenance
is required.
Goal:
This activity seeks to deploy secure methods of accessing and maintaining
data in the RIPE Database. It will interface with a more general increase
in awareness of security matters in all interactions between the RIPE
NCC and other parties.
Related Activities:
M5
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Database WG
C2 Information Services, Communication, and
Education
Description:
This set of activities ensures information flow between the RIPE NCC
and the RIPE community as well as between these and other parties involved
in Internet developments.
C2.1 Mailing List Management
Description:
The RIPE NCC maintains high quality mailing lists for exchanging information
among members of the RIPE community. Efforts are made to prevent spam
(unsolicited advertising) on the mailing lists, to improve the quality
of the address lists in order to minimise bounces, and to support subscribers
with problems. The processing of mailing list traffic is constantly monitored.
Goal:
To ensure the exchange of information among members of the RIPE community
and to provide support for subscribers of RIPE mailing lists.
C2.2 Maintenance of Information Services
Description:
The RIPE NCC maintains a WWW and ftp server at http://www.ripe.net/
and ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ respectively and the accompanying webmaster@ripe.net
role mailbox to provide help and information to users. This includes:
- Continuous modification and restructuring of the information on the
WWW server providing the best structure for ease of use to visitors
of the site.
- Monitoring of the content of the servers to assure accuracy, consistency,
and a user-friendly environment.
Goal:
The purpose of this activity is to ensure that the information and services
on the RIPE NCC servers are up-to-date and working well and that responses
to user needs are provided in a timely manner.
Related Activities:
C2.3
RIPE Working Group Advising:
All
C2.3 Public Relations and Outreach
Description:
The RIPE NCC has managed to establish an extensive network in the Internet
community and with existing and new players in the industry. This will
continue and be intensified.
In the past, all issues related to the 'RIPE NCC activities/IP address
distribution' was brought up in the RIPE community. Today there are other
groups and forums that deal with Internet and IP issues. The RIPE NCC
needs to make contact with those organisations and ensure that RIPE and
the RIPE NCC are properly represented in all forums dealing with issues
that affect Internet administration. The open structures and processes
in which RIPE and the RIPE NCC operate need to be promoted and new players
must be encouraged to participate actively.
Focused effort must remain on new players, new technologies, and governments
showing an interest in Internet administration and governance.
Goal:
This activity aims to increase the awareness of RIPE and the RIPE NCC
with existing and new players in the Internet community, and ensure that
the RIPE NCC continues to play an effective role in the further formalisation
of Internet administration.
C2.4 Reporting
Description:
The RIPE NCC reports about its activities to its membership, the RIPE
community, and the general public both on the network and at RIPE Meetings.
The RIPE NCC publishes an Annual Report, including financial statements,
for distribution to its membership, suppliers, the mass media, and interested
members of the public. The Annual Report also serves as a general Public
Relations document. Continuous efforts are made in developing the website
to provide up-to-date and informative documentation essential to the RIPE
NCC membership.
Goal:
This activity provides the RIPE NCC membership and other interested
parties with open, detailed information about the ongoing RIPE NCC activities
and its position in the Internet community.
Related Activities:
C2.3, C4
C3 DNS Co-ordination
Description:
The RIPE NCC does not provide domain name registration services. It
does, however, provide DNS co-ordination and support activities as well
as registration of reverse address mapping domain registrations, currently
within the in-addr.arpa and ip6.int domains.
C3.1 European Root Name Servers
Description:
The RIPE NCC supports the operation of the root name servers located
in the RIPE NCC service region. In particular, it operates the server
currently located at the LINX in London (k.root-servers.net).
Goal:
Those few DNS name servers serving the "." (root) zone are critical elements
of the Internet infrastructure that should be operated in a neutral and
professional way. The goal of this activity is to ensure that this
happens.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE DNS WG
C3.2 Secondary DNS Service
Description:
The RIPE NCC provides secondary name service and limited support to
those country TLD administrators that wish to use it. The RIPE NCC assists
ICANN in the administration of those TLDs as described in RFC1591.
Goal:
Internet users depend on DNS name servers serving the zones of two- letter
ISO3166 country code top-level domains. Name service for these zones should
be reliable. New countries should be supported to establish their country
code TLDs. Reverse zones are served in a secondary capacity to assist
in ensuring the reliability of reverse lookups.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE DNS WG
C3.3 DNS Hostcount
Description:
The RIPE NCC provides monthly statistics on the number of hosts connected
to the Internet in the RIPE NCC service region. The statistics are gathered
in collaboration with numerous organisations doing local counts per country.
Goal:
The goal of this activity is to collect and publish uniform time series
data about the growth of the Internet in the RIPE NCC service region.
This is a continuation of data collection on Internet growth started in
October 1990. The information and statistics are used extensively by LIRs
and organisations operating in the RIPE NCC service region and beyond.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE DNS WG
C4 RIPE Meetings
Description:
The RIPE NCC provides administrative and technical support for the RIPE
Meetings. These RIPE Meetings take place three times a year and are open
to the public. Actual costs regarding venue, equipment hire, etc., are
recouped by charging an attendance fee, as well as through corporate sponsorship.
Goal:
To provide support for an infrastructure whereby the RIPE Meetings can
be held. Guidance and advice from the RIPE Working Groups and membership
is invaluable to the RIPE NCC in supporting its effective role in further
formalising Internet administration. RIPE also plays an influential role
in defining the annual activity plan and these meetings are therefore
essential to the stable operations of the RIPE NCC.
N - New Activities
This area represents those activities that are either unforeseen or cannot
be fully specified at the time of writing. By nature, new activities are
hard to specify in detail and priorities can change quickly. Activities
may be dropped or added as necessary. The activity descriptions below
are therefore more of a subjective statement of direction rather than
a fixed plan of action. In particular, some of the ideas below have not
yet been fully discussed in the relevant RIPE working groups.
N1 Routing Information Service (RIS)
The goal of the Routing Information Service is to collect BGP routing
information at several major exchange points in near real time, and store
it in a database. An interface similar to a "looking glass"
then provides both multiple views and information about specific times
in the past. This is very useful to ISP operations because operators do
not have to search for specific "looking glasses" covering their
area of interest. Additionally, they can query the specific time of a
problem rather than having access to just the present state of routing
information. The database is also useful for the RIPE NCC itself as it
allows Hostmasters to determine how prefixes and autonomous systems have
been used on the Internet over an extended period.
To collect the information, six so-called Remote Route Collectors (RRCs)
have been installed in the RIPE area. Early in 2002, two additional RRCs
will be installed elsewhere in the world. After that, the RIPE NCC plans
to evaluate the view of the Internet available to the RIS and, if necessary,
install other RRCs to get a more comprehensive picture of BGP routing
information. Peering sessions will continue to be established with interested
ISPs.
User access to the collected data will be improved by adding additional
queries to the database. Also, a daily report with graphs showing the
development of key parameters in BGP routing will be added to the RIS.
Finally, the RIPE NCC will put more effort into communication with present
and future users of the RIS to better understand their needs for new features
based on the RIS data. Training materials showing how to use the RIS in
day-to-day operations will be developed.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Routing WG
N2 Deployment of Internet Security Infrastructure
(DISI)
Description:
The RIPE NCC will gather information and experience by deploying the
technologies itself and fostering their deployment in the RIPE community
through presentations, courses, and workshops. ISPs and, specifically,
RIPE NCC members have to play a key role in deploying these technologies.
The RIPE NCC will initially focus on DNSsec and co-operate with other
organisations working in this area, such as NLnet Labs, Nominum, and others.
The RIPE NCC also actively participates in the IETF Working Groups on
this topic.
Goal:
In 2001, the project focused on DNSsec. An introduction course to DNSsec
has been developed. This course shows how to secure a zone using DNSsec.
It will be offered to the membership at regular intervals starting at
RIPE 40. The number and location of the courses in 2002 will be determined
based on user feedback.
Also, the RIPE NCC will continue its efforts to have in-addr.arpa secured
for all address blocks allocated to the RIPE NCC by the end of 2001. The
experience gained will be shared with the community in workshops and white
papers. Another goal is to take part in creating BCP-type RFCs on the
deployment of DNSsec. One draft has recently been tabled in the agenda
of the DNSext Working Group, with more expected to follow.
Developments in the Internet security area are energetically followed
and the project will be expanded in the course of 2002, based on user
feedbacks and industry developments.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
RIPE Techsec-WG
N3 Unforeseen Activities
Description:
The RIPE NCC actively follows the developments in the Internet and reacts
to any requirements for new activities from the RIPE community. In the
past, the RIPE NCC has been requested to study and start up a fair number
of new activities at short notice. Many of them have been successful because
this possibility has been provided for in the activity plans since the
inception of the RIPE NCC.
Goal:
The goal of this activity is to ensure that the RIPE NCC continues to
react promptly to the developments and changing needs of the Internet
environment.
RIPE Working Group Advising:
Depending on the activity
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