Map of service regions of the regional Internet registries (RIPE NCC is in yellow)
RIPE NCC (Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre) is theregional Internet registry (RIR) for Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Central Asia. Its headquarters are inAmsterdam, the Netherlands, with a branch office inDubai, UAE.[1]
AnRIR oversees the allocation and registration of Internet number resources (IPv4 addresses,IPv6 addresses andautonomous system numbers) in a specific region.
The RIPE NCC supports the technical and administrative coordination of the infrastructure of the Internet. It is a not-for-profit membership organisation with over 10,000 (as of March 2014[2]) members located in over 76 countries in its service region.[3]
Any individual or organisation can become a member of the RIPE NCC. The membership consists mainly ofInternet service providers (ISPs), telecommunication organisations, educational institutions, governments, regulatory agencies, and large corporations.
The RIPE NCC also provides technical and administrative support toRéseaux IP Européens (RIPE), a forum open to all parties with an interest in the technical development of the Internet.
On 25 November 2019, RIPE NCC announced[6] that it had made its “final /22 IPv4 allocation from the last remaining addresses in our available pool. We have now run out of IPv4 addresses.” RIPE NCC will continue to allocate IPv4 addresses, but only “from organisations that have gone out of business or are closed, or from networks that return addresses they no longer need. These addresses will be allocated to our members (LIRs) according to their position on a new waiting list ….” The announcement also called for support for the implementation of theIPv6 roll-out.
The RIPE NCC support technical coordination of the Internet infrastructure in its service region[7] and beyond. It undertakes many activities in this area, including:
The allocation of IP addresses is important for several reasons. Public addresses need to be unique; if duplicate internet addresses existed on a network, network traffic could be delivered to the wrong host. The RIRs make sure that public addresses are given to one organisation. The RIPE NCC does this for its own service region. Worldwide, IANA assigns blocks of addresses to the RIRs and they distribute these to end users via theLIRs (normally ISPs). Beside making sure that IP addresses and AS Numbers are only allocated to one user, the shortage of IPv4 addresses makes it important that the remaining addresses are allocated in an organised manner. For many years, the RIPE NCC has followed strict guidelines on how to assign IPv4 addresses according to policy developed by the RIPE Community, as outlined in the RIPE Document ripe-498.[10] As the last /8 block has been assigned from IANA to all the RIRs, the RIPE NCC will only have new IPv4 addresses available for allocation for a certain amount of time.[14][15]
Development, operation and maintenance of the RIPE Database[16][17]
Development, operation and maintenance of the RIPE Routing Registry[18]
Collection and publication of neutral statistics on Internet development and performance, notably via theRIPE Atlas global measurement network and RIPEstat,[20] a web-based interface providing information about IP address space, autonomous system numbers, and related information for hostnames and countries.
The RIPE Database[16] is a public database containing registration details of theIP addresses andAS numbers originally allocated to members by the RIPE NCC. It shows which organisations or individuals currently hold which Internet number resources, when the allocations were made andcontact details. The organisations or individuals that hold these resources are responsible for updating information in the database.
As of March 2008, the database contents are available for near real-timemirroring (NRTM).[21]
The RIPE Routing Registry (RR)[22] is a sub-set of the RIPE Database[16] and holds routing information inRPSL. The RIPE RR[22] is a part of the Internet RR, a collection of databases that mirror each other. Information aboutdomain names in the RIPE Database[16] is for reference only. It is not thedomain name registry that is run by thecountry code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) administrators of Europe and surrounding areas.
Réseaux IP Européens is a forum open to all parties with an interest in the technical development of the Internet. Although similar in name, RIPE and the RIPE NCC are separate entities. However, they are highly interdependent. The RIPE NCC provides administrative support to RIPE, such as the facilitation of RIPE Meetings[23] and giving administrative support to RIPE Working Groups.[24]
The RIPE NCC charges members an annual membership fee.[25] Since 2012 this fee has been equal for all members and is unrelated to resource holdings. A separate charge is made for each Provider Independent number resource associated with customers of members.
There is also an active market in IPv4 address transfers[26] and these relate to registration in the RIRs' databases rather than the addresses themselves. The RIPE NCC has a formal transfer process.[27] Members must pay their annual fees before they can transfer resources away.[28]
The RIPE NCC service region[3] consists of countries in Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia. RIPE NCC services are available to users outside this region through Local Internet Registries; these entities must have a valid legal address inside the service region but can offer their services to anyone.[7]
The NRO is made up of the fiveRIRs:AfriNIC,APNIC,ARIN,LACNIC and the RIPE NCC. It carries out the joint activities of theRIRs including joint technical projects, liaison activities and policy coordination.
TheNRO also performs the function of theASO, one of the supporting organisations called for by theICANN bylaws. TheASO reviews and develops recommendations on Internet Policy relating to the system ofIP addressing and advises theICANN Board on these matters.
