RIPE Database Implementation for 2012-07, "RIPE NCC Services to Legacy Internet Resource Holders"

Note: this page outlines the implementation of 2012-07 as it relates to the RIPE Database. For a more general overview of the implementation, please refer to the Implementation Plan for 2012-07, "RIPE NCC Services to Legacy Internet Resource Holders". 

The accepted policy proposal 2012-07, "RIPE NCC Services to Legacy Internet Resource Holders", defines a framework for providing registry services to holders of legacy Internet resources in the RIPE NCC service region. Part of the implementation of this proposal involves making registration data related to legacy Internet resources publicly available in the RIPE Database.

For inetnum objects in the RIPE Database, there is currently the "status:" attribute value "EARLY-REGISTRATION" which covers most legacy Internet resources. However, as this attribute value could have been changed by users, this is not considered reliable. Currently there is no indication whether an aut-num object is legacy or not in the RIPE Database.

Our Approach

In order to achieve a transparent, complete and accurate overview of legacy resources in the RIPE Database, we will introduce a new "LEGACY" value for the “status:” attribute of inetnum objects.

For aut-num objects, we will introduce a new generated “status:” attribute that can be set to "ASSIGNED", "LEGACY" or "OTHER". This attribute will automatically be set to "ASSIGNED" for all AS Number resources assigned by the RIPE NCC, "LEGACY" for all legacy AS Numbers, and "OTHER" for copies of AS Number resources assigned by other RIRs that have been added to the RIPE Database for routing purposes. Users will not be able to directly delete or modify the “status:” attribute of aut-num objects. If an update is submitted without the "status:" attribute or with a different value, the current value will be maintained by the software without reporting an error. It will not be possible to add this attribute to any other resources.

The total number of legacy Internet resources within the RIPE Registry is approximately 4,200 parent IP blocks and 740 AS Numbers, held by some 2,500 individuals or organisations. There are approximately 35,000 more specific inetnum objects to those parent legacy IP blocks.

The RIPE NCC will set the status of aut-num and inetnum objects to "LEGACY" for all legacy Internet resources and more specifics in our registry database. Once this has been set to "LEGACY", a user will not be able to change it as long as it remains a legacy resource. Also, a "remarks:" attribute will be added to all legacy Internet resource objects, underlining the change of the "status:" attribute and referencing an FAQ web page with information on why this change took place and what it means to the resource holder.

We will implement this in two phases:

Phase 1: Starting in Q1 2014, we will make the necessary changes to the RIPE Database as well as our internal registry software.

At the end of Phase 1:

• The “status:” attribute of all aut-num objects will be generated if not set
• From this point, the “status:” attribute of aut-num and legacy inetnum objects will be generated and updated by software business rules whenever a resource is registered or changed in our internal registry

Phase 2: In Q2 2014, we will begin contacting all organisations or individuals holding aut-num objects in the RIPE Database and notify them that we are generating the “status:” for them. We will also contact all the organisations or individuals holding parent legacy inetnum objects and inform them that we are changing the “status:” of these objects for them to "LEGACY". Finally, we will change the “status:” attribute of all more specific legacy inetnum objects to "LEGACY".

At the end of Phase 2:

• All aut-num objects will have their "status:" set
• All legacy aut-num and inetnum objects will have their "status:" set to "LEGACY"
• All legacy aut-num and inetnum objects will have a "remarks:" attribute referencing an FAQ web page

Timeline

We expect Phase 1 to be completed within two months.

All aut-num and parent legacy resource holders will be notified of the status changes in one batch, when the software is deployed to the Release Candidate (RC) Test Environment. They can check the status values of their resources in the RC Database. When the software is deployed to production, after RIPE 68, all status values will be generated or set on the same day.