[policy-wg] IPV6 PI space

Mark J Elkins mje at posix.co.za
Thu Dec 14 14:40:57 SAST 2006


Firstly - the training and knowledge received in Mauritius was great 
with respect to IPV6. This has allowed me to better understand the needs 
and concerns of others. However - I am by no means the expert and 
expected to be corrected when incorrect.

I believe there needs to be some sort of PI policy. I do not believe 
that is is very healthy for Exchange Points (IXP's) to use the address 
space of a particular ISP. I also believe that its unhealthy for some 
organisations (eg - CCTLD's) that currently have IPV4 PI space and who 
are Multi-Homed to also have space from any particular ISP.

I believe that AfriNIC needs two different PI allocation policies for 
these two different areas:

For Exchange Points
---------------------------

These need a small, non-wasteful, low maintenance allocation - for 
example, an allocation of a /44 would allow for 16 "networks" (each of 
/48) to be established. A /48 is more than suitable for a single (even 
geographically dispersed) IXP, thus a /44 should be sufficient for a 
country or a countries ISPA. (By this - I'm thinking of South Africa 
with currently only one active peering point, but with potential 
expansion to a total of three points - but all managed by a single ISPA 
type organisation). 
I'd like to see AfriNIC allocate these /44's out of a single /32, which 
means there are 4096 of these allocations available. These should be 
only used for IXP's and should (I'd like to suggest) have no 
re-occurring charge associated with them.
The allocation could be made to the ISPA type organisation - so that 
there is no need for ongoing maintenance of the allocation (or at least 
greatly reduce the maintenance burden on AfriNIC).
I see this as promoting the use of IPV6 and also of IXP's (and ISPA's) 
within the AfriNIC region.
By allocating a /44, the Reverse DNS responsibilities (and hence - usage 
of AfriNIC resources) is minimalised and filtering could also be done on 
/44's. The allocations should be made on /40 boundaries so when there is 
a need to allocate a particular country (or ISPA) with additional space, 
to do so from the same /40. This allows for 256 different "countries".
Technically - IXP allocations do not need to be globally route-able - so 
this type of allocation should be fine.
The other assumption here is that the IXP (or ISPA - whatever) is a 
non-commercial (non-profit) organisation - in order to be exempt from 
re-occurring fees.
(By extension, maybe even allocate a /32 to AfrISPA - and let them 
delegate onwards? - but I'm trying to not have options)

For other existing holders of IPV4 PI Space
---------------------------------------------------------

For all organisations that currently have IPV4 PI space within the 
AfriNIC region, they should be allowed to obtain full /32's of IPV6 
space. Prerequisites should be: Holding AfriNIC IPV4 PI space, an 
AfriNIC ASN and Proof of Multi-Homing within the AfriNIC region - or 
proof that it has been requested and is impending.
(kiss - Keeping It Simple)



No policy is exempt from changes in the future. The above policy 
suggestions are to tackle todays requirements whilst keeping them 
flexible enough that they may serve the AfriNIC regions needs for the 
next few years.

-- 
  .  .     ___. .__      Posix Systems - Sth Africa
 /| /|       / /__       mje at posix.co.za  -  Mark J Elkins, SCO ACE, Cisco CCIE
/ |/ |ARK \_/ /__ LKINS  Tel: +27 12 807 0590  Cell: +27 82 601 0496



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