RIPE NCC Activity Plan 2006 |
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RIPE NCC Document ID: ripe-365
Date: January 2006
Updates: ripe-339
Table of contents
Section A: RIPE NCC Vision and Focus Changes to Activities
in 2006
- Vision and Strategy
- RIPE NCC Focus Points
- New Activity 2006
- Closure of Activities
- RIPE NCC Approved and Ongoing
Activities
- Unforeseen Activities
Section B: RIPE NCC Approved and Ongoing Activities
- Membership Services
- Co-ordination Activities
- Information Services
Section
A: RIPE NCC Vision and Focus
Changes to Activities in 2006
1. Vision and Strategy
The RIPE Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) is an independent,
not-for-profit membership organisation that supports a membership
base of around 4,000 members in more than 65 countries across
Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. The RIPE NCC operates
under its principles of openness, transparency, neutrality and
impartiality. All member and co-ordination services offered
by the RIPE NCC are based on the input and needs of the RIPE
community and the RIPE NCC membership.
For more than twelve years the RIPE NCC has been successful
in providing technical co-ordination to the Internet community.
An important aspect of this technical co-ordination is the reliable
and stable allocation of Internet number resources to RIPE NCC
members. The RIPE NCC will make continued improvements to the
quality of the registration processes and the data related to
allocating Internet number resources to its members.
The RIPE NCC will continue to take a leading role in the technical
co-ordination of IP networking by adapting to meet the changing
needs of its members and other stakeholders. The RIPE NCC will
enhance the quality of the services it provides by improving
their resilience, user-interfaces and value for operators and
the global Internet community.
An important aspect of this work will be the secure provision
of Internet number resources and related services. The RIPE
NCC will work to ensure the reliable allocation of Internet
number resources, the security of the processes associated with
co-ordinating these resources as well as the security of the
Internet’s routing system as a whole.
The RIPE NCC will develop relations with a growing community
of stakeholders, industry bodies and government representatives.
By demonstrating the proven success of the Regional Internet
Registry (RIR) process and their communities, the RIPE NCC will
secure continued support for the existing self-regulatory structures.
2. RIPE NCC Focus Points
Reliable and Stable Technical Co-ordination of
Internet Number Resources
The RIPE NCC will improve the consistency and strengthen the
robustness of the processes for distributing Internet number
resources to members. This will enable the RIPE NCC to allocate
Internet number resources with stable service time and improved
data accuracy.
There will be a specific focus on the public registration data
stored in the RIPE Whois Database. The aim will be to improve
the accuracy, consistency and completeness of the data related
to Internet number resource distribution.
High Quality Services for Operators and the Internet
Community
As a neutral, credible and authoritative source of network
and Internet-related information, the RIPE NCC will continue
to supply timely, accurate and tailored services to operators
and the Internet community.
The RIPE NCC maintains high-quality, scalable services that
are resilient to a high volume of usage and responsive to the
changing needs of the Internet community. The RIPE NCC will
focus on improving the user-interfaces and written documentation
of these services.
In 2005, the RIPE NCC began a significant overhaul of its internal
infrastructure. This included replacing the existing telephony
system with a modern one with Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
capabilities. This overhaul also included the introduction of
a new, company-wide ticketing system. The improved infrastructure
will enable a number of projects to be developed, including
the RIPE NCC Member Service Desk.
The aim of the RIPE NCC Member Service Desk is to provide members
with any additional help necessary to resolve queries involving
RIPE NCC Registration Services, the RIPE Database and RIPE NCC
billing procedures. The desk will be available through direct
e-mail and phone contact.
Security of Internal IT Infrastructure and Services
The RIPE NCC will focus on IT security activities to further
secure its internal IT infrastructure and services. Over 2006,
the RIPE NCC will also develop and deploy security systems to
enable the introduction of existing and new activities, like
support for routing security.
3. New Activity 2006
Support for Routing Security
The RIPE NCC will support its members and the Internet community
to better secure the inter-domain routing system. As part of
this support, the RIPE NCC will improve the quality of Internet
number resource distribution data.
In addition, the RIPE NCC will actively work to help ISPs to
improve routing security by supporting and co-ordinating the
introduction of new technologies and procedures in this area.
Most proposals for improvements to routing security focus on
Internet Registries issuing some form of digital certificate
to help authenticate the use of IP address blocks and AS Numbers.
In 2006, the RIPE NCC will design and implement the process
and technology to enable the RIPE NCC to issue such certificates.
The RIPE NCC will also work with the RIPE community to further
evaluate particular technical proposals and technology designed
to improve routing security. These could include improved routing
configuration tools, possibly based on certificates, and BGP
protocol enhancements, such as SBGP and SoBGP.
Information about the budgeted costs for this new activity
is available in the RIPE NCC Budget 2006 at:
http://www.ripe.net/ripe/docs/ripe-364.html
4. Closure of Activities
At the time of writing, none of the current activities are
expected to close or terminate during 2006.
5. RIPE NCC Approved and Ongoing
Activities
Information on the RIPE NCC’s approved and ongoing activities
(Membership Services, Co-ordination Activities and Information
Services) is available in Section B of this document, “RIPE
NCC Approved and Ongoing Activities”.
6. Unforeseen Activities
The RIPE NCC will keep a reserve of resources to take up any
activities that appear necessary during the course of the year.
These activities are entirely unforeseen at the time of writing
the RIPE NCC Activity Plan 2006 or have started recently and
are not at the stage where they can be developed as regular
services. A quick, well-focused reaction to the changing environment
and new requirements of the RIPE NCC members and other stakeholders
has always been a strong point of the RIPE NCC.
Section B: RIPE NCC Approved and Ongoing Activities
1. Membership Services
1.1 Distribution and Management of Internet Number
Resources
In its role as a Regional Internet Registry (RIR), the RIPE
NCC provides allocation and registration services to Local Internet
Registries (LIRs) in its service region. This service region
covers Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. The overall
goal of the RIPE NCC’s allocation and registration services
is to provide fair, impartial and stable distribution of Internet
number resources in its service region. The specific goals for
the distribution of IP address space are:
- Uniqueness of IP addresses
- Conservation of IP address space
- Procedure and policy definition for IP address space
- Aggregation of routing information
- Registration of network management and contact information
The key function of the RIPE NCC Membership Services is the
fair distribution of Internet number resource requests to RIPE
NCC members.
1.1.1 IPv4 / IPv6 Address Space and Autonomous System
(AS) Numbers
Description of Activity:
The RIPE NCC allocates and assigns IPv4 and IPv6 address space
to RIPE NCC members for use in their own and End Users networks.
The RIPE NCC also assigns AS Numbers according to RIPE community
policy. It registers these numbers and the initial associated
routing policy, ensuring the uniqueness of AS Numbers and collecting
data for the Routing Registry.
The RIPE NCC develops and maintains tools to support the allocation
process.
Goal of Activity:
- To ensure the fair distribution of Internet Number Resources
- To ensure the efficient use of IP address space and AS
Numbers
- To facilitate the optimal aggregation of routing information
1.1.2 Reverse DNS
Description of Activity:
The RIPE NCC delegates reverse DNS zones for the address ranges
managed by the RIPE NCC. To support this service, the RIPE NCC
provides a reliable secondary name server and checks all zones
under its responsibility to ensure they are properly set up
and functioning correctly.
As part of its efforts in the area of DNSSEC deployment, the
RIPE NCC publishes signed zones and provides tools for users
to secure delegations received from the RIPE NCC. In addition,
the RIPE NCC shares experience through publishing operational
white papers, documentation and software toolkits.
Goal of Activity:
- To support the proper address-to-name mapping for addresses
allocated to the RIPE NCC
- To secure the in-addr.arpa zones under the RIPE NCC's management
- To support the deployment and maintenance of DNSSEC
1.1.3 Consistency, Auditing and Data Accuracy
Description of Activity:
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 appropriate assignment decisions
are made. The RIPE NCC also makes regular reports on these activities
to the RIPE Address Policy Working Group.
Goal of Activity:
- To promote a consistent and fair application of assignment
criteria relating to the conservation of address space and
aggregation of routing information
- To identify and improve any parts of the assignment procedure
that cause problems in order to improve service levels and
response times
- To implement mechanisms to improve the quality, range and
accessibility of the data the RIPE NCC provides relating to
its allocation of Internet number resources to its members
- To provide high quality data on the allocation of Internet
number resources that can reliably be used in the daily operations
of LIRs and ISPs
- To develop metrics that can be used to objectively measure
the quality of Internet number resource registration data
and the results of efforts to improve data accuracy
1.2 RIPE NCC Interaction Mechanisms
The RIPE NCC provides flexible and convenient ways for LIRs
and others from the Internet community to interact with the
RIPE NCC's systems. There is a specific focus on the security
aspects of such interactions to ensure privacy and authentication
wherever needed.
1.2.1 RIPE NCC LIR Portal
Description of Activity:
The purpose of the LIR Portal is to give LIRs an easy-to-use
web interface for accessing RIPE NCC services,for managing their
registry’s data and for making queries and updates.
Goal of Activity:
- To enable members to receive Internet number resources
in a timely fashion by improving the request, evaluation and
approval process
- To enable members to manage their registry data and make
queries and updates
1.2.2 Security Mechanisms
Description of Activity:
The RIPE NCC provides and continues to develop secure communication
channels for members to communicate with the RIPE NCC.
Goal of Activity:
- To provide members with simplified, consistent, and secure
ways of requesting and managing Internet number resources
using the RIPE Database and other RIPE NCC services
1.3 Initial Support for New LIRs
The RIPE NCC gives initial support to LIRs during their set-up
phase. Information and support is also extended to potential
LIRs.
The RIPE NCC provides initial support to new, or potential
LIRs, in order to:
- Support new LIRs during their set-up phase by introducing
them to the relevant tools, procedures and guidelines
- Give potential LIRs enough information to make an informed
choice as to whether or not they become an LIR
1.4 Training Courses
The RIPE NCC provides a range of courses to members and non-members,
using a variety of teacher-based courses and additional training
strategies.
The RIPE NCC makes continued efforts to reach a broader audience,
particularly those who are unable to attend RIPE NCC training
courses due to geographical, financial, scheduling or other
constraints. This area includes developing online modules covering
how the RIPE NCC works and the RIPE Policy Development Process
(PDP).
The RIPE NCC provides the following courses to its members
for free:
- LIR Training Course
- DNSSEC Training Course
- Routing Registry Training Course
1.4.1 LIR Training Course
Description of Activity:
The Local Internet Registry (LIR) Training Course is a one-day
introduction to procedures and policies related to obtaining
and distributing Internet number resources from the RIPE NCC,
operating an LIR and using the RIPE Database. The training material
is regularly updated to make sure that LIRs are aware of any
recent policy changes decided by the RIPE community.
Goal of Activity:
- To help members send correctly prepared Internet number
resource requests to the RIPE NCC
- To help ensure a more timely completion of these requests
- To explain the correct procedure for registering and updating
registry data relating to Internet number resources
1.4.2 DNSSEC Training Course
Description of Activity:
This course provides an introduction to DNS security extensions
with special focus on how to deploy DNSSEC.
Goal of Activity:
- To provide DNSSEC deployment information relevant to LIRs
1.4.3 Routing Registry Training Course
Description of Activity:
The Routing Registry Training Course covers Internet Routing
Registry (IRR) usage, related tools and Routing Policy Specification
Language (RPSL).
Goal of activity:
- To provide an introduction to the Internet Routing Registry
(IRR) usage, related tools, Routing Policy Specification Language
(RPSL) and the RIPE NCC Routing Information Service (RIS).
1.5 Membership Liaison
The RIPE NCC develops liaison activities and regional support.
These play significant roles in involving RIPE NCC members,
the RIPE community and other stakeholders in the open policy-making
process and in defining the activities and services of the RIPE
NCC.
1.5.1 Regional Support
Description of Activity:
The RIPE NCC organises Regional Meetings that provide a focused
effort to proactively encourage feedback from RIPE NCC members
and the RIPE community.
Goal of Activity:
- To promote local contact with members and provide a forum
for discussing issues relevant to a specific area of its service
region
- To enable the RIPE NCC to continuously evaluate and address
the changing needs of RIPE NCC members
2. Co-ordination Activities
2.1 RIPE Whois Database: Maintenance and Development
The RIPE Whois Database contains registration details of IP
addresses and AS Numbers used by networks based in the RIPE
NCC service region.
It shows the organisations that hold the resources, where
the allocations were made and contact details for the networks.
The organisations that hold those resources are responsible
for updating their information in the RIPE Whois Database.
An Internet Routing Registry (IRR), primarily for the RIPE
NCC region, is also part of the RIPE Whois Database.
The information in the RIPE Whois Database is used by a range
of people, including network engineers, system administrators,
researchers and End Users for various purposes such as network
troubleshooting or determining abuse contacts. In most cases
these users are not RIPE NCC members.
The RIPE NCC regularly makes improvements to the interface
for the RIPE Whois Database in order to provide users with more
useful features and easier ways to update the database. The
RIPE NCC also makes continued efforts to improve the accuracy
and the usefulness of the data in the RIPE Whois Database.
The RIPE NCC implements community-driven changes as they arise,
making software and system modifications in response to feedback
from users and decisions made by the RIPE community.
2.1.1 User support and software maintenance
Description of Activity:
The RIPE NCC manages a role mailbox for questions and comments
so that it can answer user questions promptly.
The RIPE NCC also performs regular software maintenance activities
including bug fixes and minor modifications. The results of
these software development efforts are made publicly available.
This activity includes the maintenance and improvement of
documentation associated with the RIPE Whois Database.
Goal of Activity:
- To provide user-friendly interfaces to the RIPE Whois Database
- To provide a timely response to user enquiries
- To help ensure the smooth operation of the Internet Routing
Registry System
2.1.2 Cross Registry Information Service Protocol (CRISP)
Description of Activity:
The Cross Registry Information Service Protocol (CRISP) Working
Group has developed the Internet Registry Information Service
(IRIS) protocol within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
process. The RIPE NCC continues to provide server implementation
and client tools, while co-ordinating with other server operators,
client tool authors, and service providers to encourage use
of the IRIS protocol and the associated services the RIPE NCC
provides.
Goal of Activity:
- To support the widespread adoption of IRIS as it occurs
globally
- To allow users to easily look up IP address ranges or AS
Numbers using a single tool to automatically query the appropriate
database
2.1.3 New Database Features
Description of Activity:
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.
Goal of Activity:
- To provide new features to the RIPE Database as the user
community expresses the need for them
2.2 RIPE
The RIPE NCC supports the RIPE community through technical
and administrative co-ordination.
2.2.1 RIPE Meetings
Description of Activity:
The RIPE NCC organises RIPE Meetings, providing all administrative
and technical support.
Goal of Activity:
- To support the open, bottom-up, industry self-regulatory
structure common to all RIR communities in managing Internet
number resources
- To stimulate the participation of the RIPE community in
the IP policy-making process and the technical co-ordination
of IP networking
- To contribute to the stable operation of the RIPE NCC by
allowing for guidance and advice from the RIPE Working Groups
- To enable attendees to provide input and feedback on the
RIPE NCC Activity Plan
2.2.2 Supporting the RIPE Policy Development Process
(PDP)
Description of Activity:
The RIPE NCC acts as a secretariat for the RIPE community.
With regards to the Policy Development Process, this includes
activities such as hosting mailing lists and their web archives,
hosting a document archive, providing editorial assistance to
document authors and tracking the progress of policy proposals
and publishing their status.
Goal of Activity:
- To make the status and history of policy proposals clear
- To make it easy to follow policy development
- To ease the process of proposing policy change
- To make it easier to understand the text of policy documents
2.3 Mailing List Management
The RIPE NCC maintains a number of high volume external mailing
lists. The processing of mailing list traffic is constantly
monitored. Efforts are made to support subscribers with problems
and to reduce or control the spam on external mailing lists
so that they can be easily and efficiently moderated without
losing any End User functionality.
The goal is to ensure the exchange of information among the
RIPE community and the RIPE NCC membership, as well as to provide
support for subscribers of the RIPE and RIPE NCC mailing lists.
2.4 Deployment of Internet Security Infrastructure (DISI)
Within DISI, the RIPE NCC supports the RIPE community in the
deployment of security-relevant technologies in the Internet
infrastructure. The focus is on the development and deployment
of technologies that need to be co-ordinated globally in the
Internet infrastructure. The RIPE NCC continuously monitors
the development of security-relevant technologies, such as DNSSEC
deployment and secure routing, and keeps the RIPE community
informed about relevant efforts.
2.5 Domain Name System (DNS) Co-ordination
The RIPE NCC provides DNS co-ordination and support activities
as well as registrations for IPv4 and IPv6 address space managed
by the RIPE NCC.
For reverse mapping address space managed by other RIRs, the
RIPE NCC provides a secondary DNS to support the reliability
of reverse lookups.
The scalability of the DNS infrastructure for secondary, reverse
and primary DNS services is improved based on the requirements
specific to each of these services. The purpose of these activities
is to maintain and improve the operations of an efficient, responsive
and robust DNS service.
2.5.1 Reverse Delegation for the Early Registration
Transfer (ERX) Address Space
Description of Activity:
Together with other RIRs, the RIPE NCC provides shared zone
management for the Early Registration Transfer (ERX) address
space. This enables holders of the address blocks transferred
to the RIPE NCC to maintain reverse delegation for them with
the RIPE NCC even if the higher level zone is maintained by
another RIR.
Goal of Activity:
- To support the management of reverse delegation for the
ERX address space transferred to the RIPE NCC
2.5.2 Operating the K-root Name Server
Description of Activity:
The RIPE NCC operates the K-root server. Root name servers
are a crucial part of the Internet DNS infrastructure. The RIPE
NCC has operated the K-root server since 1997 when the first
server was installed at the London Internet Exchange (LINX)
in London, UK.
Since 2003, the RIPE NCC has been deploying anycast instances
of the K-root server with local reachability. The RIPE NCC has
also deployed four global nodes of the K-root name server. The
RIPE NCC collects and analyses data to determine the performance
of the K-root anycast nodes that have been deployed.
Goal of Activity:
- To improve the resiliency, efficiency, security and quality
of the K-root service
- To isolate the impact of an "external" Denial
of Service (DoS) attack and localise the impact of a "local"
DoS attack
- To efficiently maintain the network of anycast instances
of K-root by monitoring network and instance problems, performing
trend analysis and determining if, and where, other anycast
nodes should be deployed
2.5.3 Secondary DNS Service
Description of Activity:
The RIPE NCC will also continue to offer a secondary name
service and limited support to country code top-level domain
(ccTLD) administrators. Reverse zones are served in a secondary
capacity to assist in ensuring the reliability of reverse lookups.
Goal of Activity:
- To ensure the reliability and robustness of the general
DNS infrastructure
- To provide the secondary DNS service to any ccTLD organisation
that requests it
2.5.4 DNS Services in the e164.arpa Domain
Description of Activity:
The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) has an agreement with
the RIPE NCC under which it is responsible for providing DNS
services in the e164.arpa domain. This domain implements support
in the DNS for the ENUM protocol, allowing mapping of telephony
services into the Internet.
Goal of Activity:
- To support operations of one of the systems required for
the deployment of the ENUM protocol, promoting increased integration
between the Internet and services provided through the traditional
telephony infrastructure
2.6 Reporting on RIPE NCC and RIPE Activities and Developments
The RIPE NCC reports on its activities and RIPE developments
using a variety of media:
- The RIPE NCC website
- The RIPE NCC Annual Report, including financial statements
- The RIPE NCC Member Update newsletter (distributed to the
membership one month prior to each RIPE Meeting)
- E-mail reporting to RIPE NCC members and interested parties
The goal of the RIPE NCC’s reporting activities is to
provide the membership and other interested parties with open,
detailed information about the ongoing activities of the RIPE
NCC and its role in Internet administration. It also furthers
the RIPE NCC's efforts to communicate more effectively with
its membership and stakeholders and to increase participation
in RIPE.
2.6.1 Annual Report
Description of Activity:
The RIPE NCC Annual Report, including financial statements,
is published in advance of the RIPE General Meeting (GM) where
members vote on whether to approve the RIPE NCC’s financial
statements for operations in the prior year.
Goal of Activity:
- To provide a full account of the RIPE NCC’s activities
in the previous year
- To provide audited financial statements for the previous
year for the RIPE NCC members to vote on at the GM
2.6.2 Minutes and Reports from RIPE Meetings
Description of Activity:
The RIPE NCC provides minutes of Working Group and Plenary
sessions at RIPE Meetings, including links to relevant presentations.
In addition, the RIPE NCC provides reports after each RIPE
Meeting that summarise the highlights and actions that came
out of the meeting.
Goal of Activity:
- To keep the RIPE community, the RIPE NCC membership and
other interested parties up-to-date with the decisions and
discussions that took place at the previous RIPE Meeting.
2.6.3 RIPE NCC Member Update
Description of Activity:
The Member Update publication fulfils a request made by members
in the 2002 RIPE NCC Membership Survey by providing information
on the RIPE NCC and the development and performance of its services
to the membership. It also provides updates on policy development
issues affecting the RIPE community.
Goal of Activity:
- To publish and distribute the latest Member Update at least
four weeks prior to each RIPE Meeting
2.7 RIPE NCC External Relations
The purpose of the RIPE NCC’s external relations activities
is to:
- Support and represent the interests of the RIPE NCC’s
membership and the RIPE community
- Communicate the RIPE NCC’s role in IP address management
and the technical co-ordination of the Internet
- Win continued support for RIPE’s long-established,
bottom-up, industry self-regulation and promote the open structures
and processes in which RIPE and the RIPE NCC operate
- Ensure that the RIPE NCC and the RIPE community continue
to play an effective role in the further formalisation of
Internet administration, particularly technical co-ordination
and the development of policy related to Internet number resource
distribution
2.7.1 Co-ordination with Governments and Regulators
Description of Activity:
Building on its position as a neutral and trusted organisation
with proven expertise in the technical co-ordination of IP networking,
the RIPE NCC continues to develop relations with government
and regulator representatives.
The RIPE NCC facilitates Roundtable Meetings to discuss Internet
management issues relevant to governments, regulators and industry
partners. The Roundtable Meetings provide a chance for attendees
to learn more about how to participate in IP address management
policy-making. High-level discussions of IPv4/IPv6 address space
and root name servers also provide attendees with an overview
of the main elements involved in the technical co-ordination
of the Internet.
Goal of Activity:
- To develop close contact with governments and regulators
with an interest in the technical co-ordination of IP networking
- To explain the proven, long-standing industry self-regulatory
structures of the RIRs and secure continued support for the
existing registry process
- To communicate the principles of Internet industry self-regulation
to policy makers, both in the public and the private sector,
and to encourage well-informed decisions
- To encourage the participation of public and private sectors
in the formation of policies related to Internet number resource
distribution
2.7.2 Co-ordination with Industry Bodies
Description of Activity:
The RIPE NCC continues to support and represent the interests
of its membership and the RIPE community to Internet industry
groups. The main goal of these outreach activities remains the
promotion of the open, bottom-up, industry self-regulatory structure
common to all RIR communities in managing Internet number resources.
The RIPE NCC represents the interest of its members and the
RIPE community by actively participating in various industry-related
forums and meetings.
Goal of Activity:
- To increase the awareness of RIPE and the RIPE NCC with
existing and new players in the Internet community
- To ensure that the RIPE NCC continues to play an effective
role in the further formalisation of Internet administration
2.8 RIR Co-ordination
The RIPE NCC participates in co-ordination activities with
the other RIRs. These co-ordination activities include:
- Services
- The consistent application of approved policy
- Joint technical and communication projects
- Liaison activities
- The presentation of a global view of IP address management
The RIRs work together thorough the Number Resource Organization
(NRO) to develop and implement formalised co-ordination activities
that are of relevance to all RIR communities.
The NRO facilitates RIR co-ordination, provides third parties
with a convenient single contact point to the RIR system and
acts as a body capable of safeguarding the unallocated Internet
number resource pool.
The NRO also develops relationships with government, regulators
and industry partners to ensure they have an informed understanding
of how Internet address space management and distribution works
and why it has proven so successful. The focus of these activities
is to win continued support for the industry self-regulatory
structures of the RIRs and the existing registry process.
3. Information Services
The RIPE NCC provides a range of data and analysis on Internet
infrastructure, measurement and usage. The RIPE NCC continues
to integrate new and existing services into a service portfolio
while developing overviews that explain how these services can
be used and the benefits they offer.
3.1 Routing Information Service (RIS)
The Routing Information Service (RIS) provides an integrated
view of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing information collected
at multiple locations worldwide. The service integrates multiple
views, provides information about the routing state at specific
times in the past and enables users of the service to monitor
their Internet address space.
The data collected by the RIS is time-stamped, stored in a
database and is used as the raw data for a number of additional
services provided by the RIPE NCC, such as BGPlay and myASn.
The RIPE NCC investigates and develops additional services based
on analysis of this data and feedback from the Internet community.
BGPlay is a Java application that displays animated graphs
of the routing activity of a certain Internet address prefix
within a specified time interval. MyASn is a notification system
for BGP route propagation that allows users to specify expected
paths and other attributes and notifies them if a deviation
in routing information is detected.
3.2 Active Measurement Service
The RIPE NCC operates an active measurement network. The data
collected from this network is available to the Internet community
for both operational and statistical analysis. The strategy
behind the Active Measurement Service is defined and evaluated
in consultation with the RIPE Test Traffic Working Group so
that it can be reviewed and adjusted to meet current user needs.
3.2.1 Test Traffic Measurements (TTM)
Description of Activity:
The Test Traffic Measurements (TTM) Service provides impartial
measurements of the end-to-end performance characteristics of
the inter-provider Internet. This is achieved by installing
test-boxes at participating sites. These test-boxes send measurement
traffic to each other. From this traffic, packet-losses, delays
and other parameters are determined according to the metrics
developed by the IETF IP Performance Working Group (IPPM WG).
Goal of Activity:
- To collect independent measurements of performance-related
quantities of the Internet, particularly between the networks
operated by users of the TTM service
- To allow users to monitor the connectivity of their network
to other parts of the Internet, and to provide them with trend
analysis
- To measure performance-related quantities such as: one
way delays between hosts (latency), packet losses, path information
("traceroute"), bandwidth and delay variation (jitter)
- To refine the system based on user feedback
3.2.2 DNS Monitoring (DNSMON)
Description of Activity:
The RIPE NCC DNS Monitoring Service (DNSMON) provides a comprehensive,
objective and up-to-date overview of the quality of the service
offered by certain DNS root and Top-Level Domain (TLD) name
servers. DNSMON measures DNS performance between sites that
take part in the TTM service and those where DNS servers are
installed. The high number of probes and the method of presenting
the results are unique. The information is updated every hour.
The measurements are presented at various levels of granularity,
allowing users to switch between general representations and
more detailed views specific to particular domains, servers,
and probes for freely selectable time frames.
The RIPE NCC provides DNS Monitoring as a free service to the
Internet community. For interested parties, TLD operators in
particular, value added services such as monitoring of specific
name servers and access to the DNSMON helpdesk are provided
for an additional cost recovery fee.
Goal of Activity:
- To provide high-quality monitoring of important DNS servers
and participating Top-Level Domain (TLD) name servers
- To allow users to view historical data, enabling a quick
analysis of both past and present DNS issues
3.2.3 Additional Active Measurements
Description of Activity:
The Active Measurements Network can accommodate additional
active measurements.
In consultation with the RIPE Test Traffic Working Group,
the RIPE NCC investigates and discusses development plans for
using the Active Measurements Network to make additional active
measurements.
Goal of Activity:
- To respond to requests from the Internet community to investigate
the possibilities for making additional active measurements
- To monitor the latest research and technical developments
related to the Active Measurements Network and the measurements
that can be made using this network
3.3 Reporting and Statistics Collection
The RIPE NCC provides authoritative data and reports on the
growth of the Internet and the consumption rate of Internet
number resources. As part of this activity, the RIPE NCC also
raises awareness of issues related to the consumption of Internet
number resources. The purpose of this activity is to provide
useful, up-to-date information relevant to a range of interested
parties, including:
- Network operators
- RIPE Working Groups
- Industry bodies
- Governments and regulators
- The media
A range of statistics are gathered and incorporated in order
to improve cross-checks and cross-referencing as well as to
unify the presentation of statistics and to improve their accessibility.
The RIPE NCC also develops metrics that can be used to objectively
measure the quality of Internet number resource registration
data and the results of efforts to improve data accuracy.
3.3.1 Hostcount
Description of Activity:
The RIPE NCC region Hostcount has been performed monthly since
1992 to indicate the growth in the RIPE NCC service region.
The Hostcount provides statistics on the number of hosts connected
to the Internet in Europe and surrounding areas. The statistics
are gathered in collaboration with a range of organisations
doing local counts per country Top-Level Domain.
Goal of Activity:
- To provide the Internet community with an up-to-date view
of the number of hosts connected to the Internet in the RIPE
NCC service region
- To increase the accuracy and usability of the Hostcount,
and to develop the Hostcount in consultation with the Internet
community
3.3.2 Information Dissemination
Description of Activity:
As a neutral source of information about the Internet, the
RIPE NCC provides a selection of papers on Internet infrastructure,
administration, measurement and usage.
Goal of Activity:
- To provide an overview for those unfamiliar with each topic,
as well as in depth information relevant to network operators,
industry bodies and other interested parties
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