Modification of RIPE-181's as-in/as-out attributes, sjr@localhost

["Steven J. Richardson" <]

In the process of reviewing RIPE-181-represented policies, I've
noticed an opportunity for what I think would be a useful
modification of the as-in/as-out attributes of the aut-num 
object.

Currently, the syntax for these attributes is given as:

  as-in:  from <aut-num> <cost> accept <routing policy expression>

  as-out:  to <aut-num> announce <routing policy expression>

I see policies which would be usefully condensed via allowing
the <aut-num> to be an AS *macro*, too.

E.g.:

aut-num:  99999
as-name:  SOMEAS
...
as-in:	from AS10 100 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}
as-in:	from AS20 100 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}
as-in:	from AS30 100 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}
as-in:	from AS40 100 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}
as-in:	from AS50 100 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}
as-in:	from AS60 100 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}
as-in:	from AS70 100 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}
as-in:	from AS110 150 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}
as-in:	from AS120 150 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}
as-in:	from AS130 150 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}
as-in:	from AS140 150 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}
as-in:	from AS150 150 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}
as-in:	from AS160 150 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}
as-in:	from AS170 150 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}


could be equivalent to:

aut-num:  99999
...
as-in:	from AS-SOMEAS-100-NO-DEFAULT 100 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}
as-in:	from AS-SOMEAS-150-NO-DEFAULT 150 accept ANY AND NOT {0.0.0.0/0}


with the macro definitions:

as-macro: AS-SOMEAS-100-NO-DEFAULT
descr:  ASs which AS-99999 accepts at pref. 100 (any but
descr:  the default route)
as-list: AS110 AS120 AS130 AS140 AS150 AS160 AS170
...

as-macro: AS-SOMEAS-150-NO-DEFAULT
descr:  ASs which AS-99999 accepts at pref. 150 (any but
descr:  the default route)
as-list: AS10 AS20 AS30 AS40 AS50 AS60 AS70
...

(The same could be said of as-out lines.)

What do you think?


Steve Richardson/Merit