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Address registry
From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium
An address registry[1] manages the uniqueness and administration of several types of numeric identifier used in the public Internet:
- Internet Protocol version 4 address space
- Internet Protocol version 6 address space
- Autonomous system numbers (ASN)[2]
These identifiers are critical to the Internet infrastructure, especially the proper operation of global routing using the Border gateway protocol. Address registries may also maintain a routing registry containing the routing policies of the Autonomous Systems under its jurisdiction. These are all highly technical elements of the infrastructure, which, so far, do not get significantly into the legal, commercial, and economic competition involved with domain names.
Relationship to the domain name service
A different set of registries are involved with domain name service (DNS) administration and management. The one role in which address registries interact with DNS is maintaining "reverse lookup" databases, which, when searched with an address or ASN, return the name of the domain, if any, associated with the numeric identifiers.
The RIRs have tried to stay neutral technical bodies, not involved in the controversies surrounding names. As opposed to domain name system registrars, which act as brokers and customer agents to domain name system registries, the RIRs are not-for-profit.
Major registries
There are five major Regional Internet Registries, at a roughly continental level. They cooperate closely, but, in principle, operate under the technical authority of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), as Address Supporting Organizations (ASO). Applicants for identifiers submit justifications for the identifiers to the registry, and, if approved, are allocated the appropriate identifier(s).
| Region | Registry name | Link |
|---|---|---|
| North America | American Registry for Internet Numbers | http://www.arin.net/registration/templates/index.html |
| Europe | RIPE Network Coordination Centre | http://www.ripe.net/rs/as/ |
| Asia-Pacific | Asia-Pacific Network Information Center | http://www.apnic.net/policy/asn-policy.html |
| Latin America and Caribbean | Latin American and Caribbean Network Information Center | http://lacnic.net/templates/asn-template-en.txt |
| Africa | AfriNIC | http://www.afrinic.net/documents.htm#templates |
RIRs differ in if and how they further delegate address management. Formally, allocation is the process by which a registry issues an identifier to a recipient that will control it for a long time, such as an Internet Service Provider (ISP). If an ISP "leases" identifiers to a customer, with the customer required to relinquish it on termination of the business relationship, that process is called assignment. In practice, allocation and assignment tend to be used interchangeably.
Some RIRs have a formal delegation process to a lower-level tier of registries. In Europe, ISPs that will take on the administrative responsibilities may become local internet registries. In Latin America, there are some national-level registries, as for Brazil and Mexico.
References
- ↑ Hubbard, K. et al. (November 1996), Internet Registry IP Allocation Guidelines., Internet Engineering Task Force, RFC2050
- ↑ Hawkinson, J. & T. Bates (July 1996), RFC 1930: Guidelines for creation, selection, and registration of an Autonomous System (AS)
