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RIPE NCC

Revision as of 09:32, 3 August 2015 by NCC Comms (talk | contribs) (ref edits)
Type: Independent, Non-Profit
Headquarters: Singel 258
1016 AB Amsterdam
Country: Netherlands
Employees: 137 (2014)[1]
Website: ripe.net
Key People
Axel Pawlik, Managing Director
Paul Rendek, Director of External Relations
Daniel Karrenberg, Chief Scientist (Advisor)
Andrew de la Haye, Chief Operations Officer
Jochem de Ruig, Chief Financial Officer
Serge Radovcic, Chief Communications Officer
Kaveh Ranjbar, Chief Information Officer

The Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) is the RIR for Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Central Asia. The main focus of the RIPE NCC is the allocation of Internet number resources (INRs) and the maintenance of a registry of all allocated INRs in its service region.[2]

The organization's most important tasks include:

  • Distribution and registration of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses and Autonomous System (AS) Numbers
  • Operating the RIPE Database
  • Operating the K-root server cluster, one of the world’s 13 root name servers
  • Facilitating RIPE community activities
  • Developing the RIPE Atlas network
  • Providing high-quality measurement information services[3]

The RIPE NCC is not to be confused with RIPE, a related but independent collaborative forum.

History edit

The RIPE NCC was established on September 16th, 1990, to deal with administrative tasks for RIPE, although it was not formally established and recognized until 1992. The RIPE NCC did not become a separate legal entity until 1998. Although the two organizations are legally independent today, they remain highly interdependent. The RIPE NCC supports RIPE by facilitating RIPE meetings and providing support for RIPE working groups. The RIPE NCC maintains the RIPE Database, a public database containing registration details of the IP addresses and AS numbers originally allocated to members by the RIPE NCC.[4]

In November 2011, the RIPE NCC received a temporary order from Dutch police that prevented any changes from being made to a registration of four specific blocks of IPv4 address space in the RIPE Registry. The injunction was ordered the 8th of November and was in effect through March 22, 2012.[5] In return, the organization intended to settle the matter further in Dutch court. It did not withdraw, remove, or reclaim the address blocks but temporary locked registration for them.[6] In January 2012, the locks were removed under the RIPE community's opinion that legal grounding to execute the order was insufficient.[7]

On September 14, 2012, the RIPE NCC distributed the last blocks of IPv4 address space that it had available. As a result, the RIPE NCC is now distributing IPv4 address space to Local Internet Registries (LIRs) from the last /8 according to section 5.6 of "IPv4 Address Allocation and Assignment Policies for the RIPE NCC Service Region”.[8]

RIPE NCC Structure edit

The RIPE NCC is made up of its members, an Executive Board, and its staff, led by a management team.

Membership edit

Organizations and individuals must be registered as members of an RIR in order to request provider-aggregatable (PA) IP addresses and AS Numbers, or when they plan to assign them to End Users or customers. Those who wish to request a small amount of provider-independent (PI) IP addresses and AS numbers for personal use may do so via the Request of Independent Resources process.[9] Most of the RIPE NCC’s members are ISPs and telecommunications organizations, but other members include corporations, academic institutions and government bodies. At the end of 2014, the RIPE NCC had 11,115 members in 76 countries.

RIPE NCC membership is not required to attend RIPE meetings, to take part in the RIPE Policy Development Process (PDP), or use some RIPE NCC Services. Membership is required, however, to request IPv4 and IPv6 address space, AS Numbers and related services, to attend the RIPE NCC General Meetings, to provide feedback on the RIPE NCC Activity Plan, to accept the RIPE NCC Charging Scheme or Financial Report, and to vote candidates onto the RIPE NCC Executive Board. Member benefits include the ability to attend RIPE NCC Training Courses, the use of an LIR Portal account to manage registry data and make Internet number requests, and the receipt of two free tickets to RIPE Meetings.[9]

There is a sign-up fee for joining the RIPE NCC, after which members must pay an annual fee.[10]

The Executive Board edit

The Executive Board, which consists of seven people, is elected by the members of the RIPE NCC. Their duties are to represent the membership and provide guidance to the RIPE NCC's senior management team, approve the RIPE NCC's Activity Plan and Budget, appoint the RIPE NCC management, and call General Meetings. They are responsible for the overall financial position of the organization, and are to keep up-to-date records of the RIPE NCC's financial situation. The Executive Board delegates all operational decisions relating to the Standard Service Agreements to the management staff.[1]

RIPE NCC staff chain of command.[1]

The current Executive Board members are:

Members of the Executive Board serve a 3-year term.[11]

Staff edit

The duties of the staff overall are to:

  1. Perform the operations and facilitate the services of the RIPE NCC.
  2. Provide administrative support for RIPE and RIPE NCC members.
  3. Cooperate with the other four RIRs and industry partners like ISOC and ICANN.
  4. Implement policies proposed and accepted by the Internet community.[1]

The management staff comprises the RIPE NCC Managing Director supported by a Senior Management Team of six members:

  • The Director of External Relations oversees community outreach activities and government liaison
  • The Chief Communications Officer oversees the Communications Department, which includes the Web Services and RIPE Labs teams
  • The Chief Operations Officer manages the RIPE NCC’s core operations (Member Services)
  • The Chief Information Officer is responsible for the RIPE NCC's global infrastructures, such as the provision of reverse DNS in the RIPE NCC service region and the operation of the global K-root server cluster
  • The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for the RIPE NCC’s financial activities and also oversees its legal activities
  • The Chief Scientist advises the Managing Director and the Senior Management team, particularly on new activities[12]

Services edit

In addition to distributing IPv4 and IPv6 addresses and AS Numbers, the RIPE NCC provides the following services to its members:

Database Services:

  • Development, operation and maintenance of the RIPE Database
  • Operation of a Routing Registry

Technical Services:

  • Operation of K-root, one of 13 root name server clusters
  • rDNS delegations
  • Technical administration of Tier-0 ENUM

Community Support and Outreach:

  • Administrative support for RIPE
  • Maintenance and development of RIPE community mailing lists
  • Facilitation of RIPE Meetings
  • Facilitation of RIPE NCC Regional Meetings
  • Roundtable Meetings for governments, regulators and law enforcement agencies
  • Public representation of the RIPE NCC, its members and the RIPE community
  • Support for the Middle East Network Operators Group’s (MENOG) activities

Training:

  • Provision of RIPE NCC Training Courses for members and stakeholders
  • Provision of an E-Learning Centre freely available to members and non-members

Information Services:

  • NetSense
  • Test Traffic Measurement Service
  • DNS Monitoring
  • Routing Information Service
  • Hostcount++[1]

Measurements and Innovation Support:

  • RIPE Atlas
  • RIPEstat
  • RIPE Labs

References edit

External Links edit

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