IPv4 Address Space: October 2003
There have been press articles posted over the past year that make statements
about the remaining pool of IPv4 address space. A recent article states
there is a shortage and that Internet Protocol Numbers will run out some
time in the year 2005.
The Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) do not themselves make predictions
about when the remaining IPv4 address space will be depleted. They do,
however, report on the rates of RIR allocation of IPv4 address space
and on the state of the remaining pool of IPv4 address space.
The information provided in these RIR reports makes it apparent that
many of the recent claims regarding IPv4 address space shortage are speculative
and are not based on authoritative, publicly available statistics.
IPv4 Address Space: Current Statistics
The global pool of IPv4 addresses is administered by the Internet Assigned
Numbers Authority (IANA), which allocates address blocks to Regional
Internet Registries (RIRs) as they are required. The IPv4 allocation
unit in this case is the "/8 block", equivalent to approximately
16 million addresses. It should be noted that as of 30 June 2003 the
global pool of IPv4 address space contained 91 of these blocks for this
purpose.
The RIRs report on statistics regarding IPv4 allocation on their respective
web sites and present a "Joint Statistics" report at each of
the RIR meetings and at other Internet industry meetings several times
yearly. This information is publicly available and provides the most
up-to-date statistics on rates of IPv4 allocation. The most recent presentation
on this subject can be found at:
http://www.ripe.net/rs/ipv4/resource-status-200310.pdf
This report states that the RIRs have collectively allocated 19.59 /8
equivalents in the four and a half years between January 1999 and June
2003. It also identifies that there are 91 /8 equivalents held by the
IANA in reserve for future allocation by the RIRs.
Based on today’s total global allocation rate of approximately
4.25 blocks per year in 2002, or 5.5 blocks in 2001, and the remaining
pool of 91 blocks held by IANA, it is unrealistic to assume that there
is an imminent shortage in the IPv4 address space. Even allowing for
a dramatic increase in address consumption rates, it is highly probable
that IPv4 address space will last well beyond the two years predicted
by some.
IPv4 Address Space: Allocated Globally According to Regional Needs
The RIRs are not-for-profit membership organisations dedicated to providing
neutral and fair Internet resource distribution to their members, while
ensuring the conservation and aggregation of IPv4 address space. The
IANA policies for allocation of IPv4 address blocks to the RIRs are
applied fairly and are based purely on the documented need for address
space.
When IPv4 address space finally "runs out" this will occur
at the global level, leaving each region with a relatively small pool
of addresses remaining to be allocated.
It has been suggested that Asia will experience an IPv4 address shortage
before other regions. This is simply not true. This is because addresses
are distributed in a co-ordinated fashion from a single global pool,
and there is no system whereby that pool is exclusively divided among,
or pre-allocated to, different countries or regions. Through the current
system of address administration, IP addresses are allocated according
to immediate need wherever that need is demonstrated and it is simply
not possible for isolated "shortages" to exist.
As has been done in the past, the RIRs will continue to report regularly
on the registration and allocation rates of Internet Protocol Numbers,
and will work closely with the IANA to ensure the efficient management
of the remaining IPv4 address space.
RIR Statistics:
Raw Data/Historical RIR Allocations:
The Internet Number Resource Status Report, prepared jointly by
the five RIRs, provides up-to-date statistics on rates of IPv4 allocation.
This presentation is available at:
http://www.ripe.net/rs/ipv4/resource-status-200310.pdf
|
you are here: home -> Internet Resources
