nanog mailing list archives

Re: Internic address allocation policy


From: karl () mcs com (Karl Denninger)
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 1995 15:10:48 -0600 (CST)

In THEORY, once an address range is delegated to you it is YOURS.  CIDR
permits "holes", that is, more-specific routes.

Some providers try to force you to "give back" the address(es) when you
leave.  MCSNet, and most others, do not.  My view on this is that once you
receive an address consisting of at least a Class "C" block (ie: the last
octet is yours) then it is yours to keep -- period.

For sub-C allocations there is no good way to delegate those, and as such
at present we view sub-C allocations as belonging to us, and I suspect most
other providers who are as aggressive as we are in delegating small pieces
of address space also view things in this fashion.

Looks like a double standard to me...  The same argument could be placed
for any subnet not on an 8,16, or 24 bit bound.

Remember that consistant policy is a "Good Thing"(tm?) and something that 
works, -across the board- will last us longer than some simple haq that deals
w/ current, broken hardware/software.  (Will this policy work in 24 months?)

-- 
--bill

Got a better idea Bill?  I'm all ears.  Forcing customers to give back 
addresses is not workable in any enterprise of reasonable size.  Application 
gateways may work out for some applications, but not all.

Forcing people to renumber isn't workable.  Portability is the only real
answer to this, and I agree that IPv4 isn't great in that fashion, and CIDR
is a botch and will degenerate over entropy.

But its what we're stuck with right now, Bill, so we make do with what we
have.  BTW, coddling vendors with broken architectures in the process isn't
a solution either.

--
--
Karl Denninger (karl () MCS Net)| MCSNet - The Finest Internet Connectivity
Modem: [+1 312 248-0900]     | (shell, PPP, SLIP, leased) in Chicagoland
Voice: [+1 312 248-8649]     | 6 POPs online through Chicago, all 28.8
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