[ncc-services-wg] Fw: New on RIPE Labs: RIPE NCC and the Cloud - Let???s Start Again

Colleagues

Gert put it very simply, I like to elaborate. What is the driving
force behind this proposal? Is something broken? Has the RIPE NCC
reached it's limit of capabilities in some area? For decades the RIPE
NCC has provided the RIPE Database service to an exceptionally high
standard. They have managed the whole system, it's design, software,
engineering infrastructure, 24/7 operation, security. They have an
excellent record of uptime for both updates and queries. They have
built in resilience that has never yet failed beyond small incidents.
They not only have significant levels of in-house experience and
knowledge, but there are so many previous engineers still around
within the community whose past experience and knowledge the NCC can
draw on. It seems they now want to take a, potentially, irreversible
step in a new direction. Sometimes that can be a breath of fresh air
and breathe new life into a stagnant system. Or it can be the death of
a previously successful service. So as Gert asked, what is the
compelling reason for taking this step? Is something likely to break
if this step is not taken soon?

As someone else remarked, what happens if the new cloud service 'goes
down'? Or if data is hacked or non-public data is leaked? Is the risk
of resource hijacking affected in any way when this data is outside of
the RIPE NCC and resource holders control? If the current high
standard of service falls, what will the RIPE NCC's response be? Are
we going to get that "Sorry but it is outside of our control, please
contact the cloud provider" answer? Have all of these (and maybe
other) questions been considered and answered in the proposal and
impact analyses?

Has any cost benefit analysis been done in terms of financial, human
and reputational costs?

(btw I personally am not for or against the proposal...I am just a
good devil's advocate and like to help people see things from
different perspectives)

cheers
denis
co-chair DB-WG

> From: Gert Doering <gert at space.net>
> To: Alun Davies <adavies at ripe.net>
> Cc: "ncc-services-wg at ripe.net" <ncc-services-wg at ripe.net>
> Sent: Monday, 21 June 2021, 18:17:38 CEST
> Subject: Re: [ncc-services-wg] New on RIPE Labs: RIPE NCC and the Cloud - Let???s Start Again
>
> Hi,
>
> On Mon, Jun 21, 2021 at 11:13:33AM +0200, Alun Davies wrote:
> > https://labs.ripe.net/author/felipe_victolla_silveira/ripe-ncc-and-the-cloud-lets-start-again/
>
>
> Is it just me or is this a somewhat reactive article that still does not
> cover the
>
>   "what does the NCC want to achieve with 'going to the cloud'"
>
> bit?
>
> Just because it's en vogue doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.
>
>
> (And given that the glorious example of outsourcing the NCC ticket
> system has *still* not led to an acceptable user experience...)
>
> Gert Doering
>         -- LIR contact
> --
> have you enabled IPv6 on something today...?
>
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