RIPE NCC: Frequently Asked Questions
1. IP address related questions2. Other questions from individuals
2.1. Can you please solve this problem caused by someone on your network?
2.2. How do I register a domain name?
2.3. Can you help me in getting Internet connection?
2.4. Where can I find statistics on Internet usage or related topics?
2.5. What is the difference between RIPE and the RIPE NCC?
2.6. I am a service provider. Should I register with RIPE?
2.7. How do I set up a local IR?
2.8. How do I update information in the RIPE Database?3. Questions from Local Registries
3.1. Why do I get messages fromsaying I'm not registered as a contact person?
3.2. How do I update the data of my Local IR?
1. IP address related questions
Who does the RIPE NCC give out IP numbers to?
Internet numbers are assigned in a distributed fashion by a hierarchical system of Internet Registries (IRs). The RIPE NCC, as regional IR for Europe, allocates ranges of IP network numbers to local IRs for assignment.Most of these local IRs are operated by Internet service providers. These local IRs can assign the IP addresses to individuals (mostly being their customers). Some IRs are operated by large enterprises operating a corporate network that spans several locations (usually in various countries), who coordinate their address space internally.
I need IP addresses for my network. Can I get them from the RIPE NCC?
If you are an end user and need IP addresses to operate your network, you need to obtain address space from the service provider your network is going to connect to. The RIPE NCC does not assign address space to end users.If you are a service provider that needs address space for your internal network or your customers, you can obtain a range of addresses from the RIPE NCC. You then need to set up a Local Internet Registry (LIR) and contribute to the RIPE NCC's funding. The RIPE NCC only provides registration services to contributing LIR's.
Why do I need to get IP addresses from my service provider?
Service providers assign IP addresses in such a way that routing information for many customers can be aggregated once it leaves the provider's routing domain. This keeps the number of route announcements and state changes in the interdomain routing system at an acceptable level.If you have IP addresses that are not part of your service provider`s range, the provider will have to announce a separate route to the rest of the Internet. They may (now or in the future) charge additional rates for routing your IP addresses or may not be able to route them at all, at least not over the entire Internet.
I don't plan to connect to the Internet yet, but need (preferrably unique) IP addresses to configure my network already. What do I have to do?
With the current size of the Internet, the uniqueness of IP addresses is not enough for these addresses to be suitable for connecting to the Internet (see above). Therefore, the address space obtained now might not be useful in the future as it might not be routed by any service provider. We recommend that you use Private Address Space. When you connect to the Internet at a later stage, you can either renumber to IP addresses inside your provider's block, or use an address translation gateway.You can find more detailed information on private address space in RFC 1918.
I operate a large network that does not connect to the Internet. It connects many small networks. I really need unique IP addresses to assign to them.
As you can deduce from the previous answers, the main objective of the current system of distributing IP address space is: IP addresses need to be routable on the Internet. IP address are a scarce resource and should not be used to address private networks.If you really want unique IP addresses, although we discourage it, you need to contact a contributing local IR as the RIPE NCC only provides service to those registries.
- If you operate a private network, then you should be able to coordinate the addressing of that network.
- The argument that your networks would need unique addresses because they might connect to the Internet at a later stage, is not valid anymore in the present state of the Internet. See previous answer.
- The risk of possible address clashes with client networks already using private address space is not solved by using public IP addresses. As soon as you have two networks already using private address space that are connecting to you, you have the risk of address clashes, no matter what you do.
2. Other questions from individuals
2.1. Can you please solve this problem caused by someone on your network?
More than 99% of the problem reports concerning 'our network' are not about the network of the RIPE NCC itself. Most of the people reporting problems have been referred to us via the InterNIC Database.Please use the RIPE Database to find the contact persons responsible for the network you are referring to. If you can't find an appropriate net entry, you can of course contact the RIPE NCC and we will try to help you in finding a contact person. Please note the following points:
- The RIPE Database does not contain information on all European domain names. Searching for IP numbers will give better results than searching for domain names.
- The RIPE Whois server is different from the InterNIC Whois server, in that you can specify the full IP address.
2.2. How do I register a domain name?
The RIPE NCC does not register domain names. If you want to register a domain name directly under a top level domain (TLD), please contact the appropriate TLD administrator. Each TLD has its own administrator.Information about european two-letter TLD's can be found in the RIPE Database.
Information about other two-letter TLD's can be found in the InterNIC Database.
If you want to register a domain name under a three-letter TLD, please contact InterNIC.
2.3. Can you help me in getting Internet connection?
We have one way to help you, if you don't know any service providers to contact:We can send your request for connection to the service providers we know via an electronic mailing list. Those service providers who are interested in providing service to you will then contact you directly.
Please provide us with a message to put on this mailing list, and we will forward it for you. Please send the message to <ncc@ripe.net>.2.4. Where can I find statistics on Internet usage or related topics?
The RIPE NCC produces and keeps statistics about the number of Internet hosts in Europe. These and other statistics you can find on our statistics page.2.5. What is the difference between RIPE and the RIPE NCC?
RIPE is a collaborative organisation without any formal membership. It is open to any organisation operating wide area IP networks in Europe. Work is done on a voluntary basis.The RIPE NCC is an official organisation with full-time employees. It has been set up after it appeared that some work could not be done by volunteers anymore.
2.6. I am a service provider. Should I register with RIPE / become a RIPE member?
You don't have to register with RIPE, as RIPE has no formal membership.The RIPE NCC has no 'members' either. You don't have register with the RIPE NCC to be a provider. There is no such thing as a status for service providers. Every organisation or company can become a service provider and provide Internet services as well as other services. The only thing you have to do is get an Internet connection at the network (IP) level.
There is one activity that you do have to register for: if you want to receive allocations of IP address space from the RIPE NCC directly, you should set up a 'Local Internet Registry' and commit to fund the RIPE NCC. The amount of work that registry activities bring along for the NCC, have made it impossible to do this on a basis of voluntary funding since 1995.
2.7. How do I set up a local IR?
Please read RIPE 160 explaining this procedure.2.8. How do I update information in the RIPE Database?
You can change the data in the RIPE Database yourself, by sending in templates with the correct data by mail to <auto-dbm@ripe.net>. If you need more information, there is a help document available.3. Questions from Local Registries
3.1. Why do I get messages from <hostmaster> saying I'm not registered as a contact person?
We need to have all contacts that deal with local IR operations (i.e. send in requests to <hostmaster@ripe.net>), registered as technical contact in your registry data. If you are not, please have someone (who is already registered as a contact) request to add you as a contact by e-mail to <ncc@ripe.net>.The system that sends the automatic acknowlegment messages from <hostmaster@ripe.net>, is not fully automated at the moment and we sometimes make mistakes. If you got a message that e.g. your 'role account' address is not registered as a contact person, please disregard the message. We only need persons registered as tech-c. We will take measures to prevent these erroneous messages as soon as we have time for it.
Note on updating persons
If you are updating persons in the registry data, please make sure they are also updated in the public RIPE Database. You can do this yourself by sending changes, deletions or new templates by mail to <auto-dbm@ripe.net>; please see the Database documentation if you need more info.A hint: If you want to update all templates that are currently referencing certain contacts, there is an easy way to retrieve all those templates from the database: Query the whois database for '-r -i admin-c,tech-c <contact>'.
(Note that <contact> will probably be the NIC handle for the contact, not the personal name.)3.2. How do I update the data of my Local IR?
The data of our local registries is not part of the RIPE Database and can only be changed by the RIPE NCC staff. Please send your changes to your data by e-mail to <ncc@ripe.net>. We prefer this being done by someone who is already a registered contact for the registry.Please note that there is a part of your registry data that is private and therefore not published on the Webiste or FTP site. If you need a a form with your full registry data, also please send e-mail to <ncc@ripe.net>.
(To add to the confusion, the 'person templates' that are published on our FTP site, are not part of the data in the registry form. They are retreived from the public RIPE Database and you can update these person templates yourself; see note on updating persons above.)
