Is this normal behaviour?

On Thu, 31 Aug 2000, Marco Davids wrote:

>    Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 16:31:27 +0200 (MET DST)
>    From: Marco Davids <marco at sara.nl>
>    To: lir-wg at ripe.net
>    Cc: db-wg at ripe.net
>    Subject: Is this normal behaviour?
>    
>    Hello,
>    
>    A routine check on as-macro AS-EURONET on the RIPE-database returned an
>    unexpected result.
>    
>    The same check on the RADB whoisd (whois.raddb.net) however, returned the
>    expected result together with two unexpected ones.
>    
>    Investigation learned us that someone deleted an unprotected as-macro on
>    the RIPE-database. It seems it is fixed now.
>    
>    But what I would like to know is to what extend the several whois
>    databases a synchronised, in other words; how reliable is the information
>    retrieved from it? And... is the as-set object supposed to be unique or
>    not?

as-sets (and all objects) are unique _within one registry_. When a given
object is registered in multiple registries, synchronization is the
responsibility of whoever register those multiple instances because when
they reach servers like whois.radb.net (which mirrors multiple registries)
they are kept as distinct objects. When you query whois.radb.net you will
see all instances of a given object (eg. AS-GLOBALCENTER that's registered
in four different registries).

The problem with inconsistent objects is that unlike a whois client (which
returns all objects found on a given server), tools that builds BGP
filters from the IRR will only consider the first instance found for an
as-set; the search order beeing dependant on the whois server admin.

Another aspect of synchronization is mirroring, which, under normal
conditions, is never too far behind on well managed servers like
whois.radb.net. (There are exceptions though [even on whois.radb.net]:
some registries - like CW, ARIN, etc. - do not offer real time mirroring
possibilities; they can only be mirrored from checkpoint files that are
made available for ftp only once a day.)

Cheers.
__

Pierre Thibaudeau                     |   e-mail: <prt at Teleglobe.net>
TELEGLOBE CANADA                      |   e-page: <prt at txt.bellmobilite.ca>
1000, rue de La Gauchetiere ouest     |
Montreal, QC   H3B 4X5                |      Tel: +1-514-868-7257
Canada                                |      fax: +1-514-868-8446

>    
>    --
>    Marco Davids / SARA - Academic Computing Services Amsterdam
>    
>    	Today's tip: ftp://ftp.ripe.net/rfc/rfc1925.txt
>