A provider-independent address space (PI) is a block of
IP address
An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...
es assigned by a
regional Internet registry
A regional Internet registry (RIR) is an organization that manages the allocation and registration of Internet number resources within a region of the world. Internet number resources include IP addresses and autonomous system (AS) numbers.
...
(RIR) directly to an end-user organization. The user must contract with a
local Internet registry
A regional Internet registry (RIR) is an organization that manages the allocation and registration of Internet number resources within a region of the world. Internet number resources include IP addresses and autonomous system (AS) numbers.
...
(LIR) through an
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...
to obtain routing of the address block within the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
.
Provider-independent addresses offer end-users the opportunity to change service providers without renumbering of their networks and to use multiple access providers in a
multi-homed
Multihoming is the practice of connecting a host or a computer network to more than one network. This can be done in order to increase reliability or performance.
A typical host or end-user network is connected to just one network. Connecting to ...
configuration. However, provider-independent blocks may increase the burden on global routers, as the opportunity for efficient
route aggregation
A supernetwork, or supernet, is an Internet Protocol (IP) network that is formed by aggregation of multiple networks (or subnets) into a larger network. The new routing prefix for the aggregate network represents the constituent networks in a s ...
through
Classless Inter-Domain Routing
Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR ) is a method for allocating IP addresses and for IP routing. The Internet Engineering Task Force introduced CIDR in 1993 to replace the previous classful network addressing architecture on the Internet. Its g ...
(CIDR) may not exist.
IPv4 assignments
One of the RIRs is
RIPE NCC
RIPE NCC (''Réseaux IP Européens'' Network Coordination Centre) is the regional Internet registry (RIR) for Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia. Its headquarters are in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with a branch office in Dubai, UAE.
...
. The RIPE NCC can no longer assign IPv4 Provider Independent (PI) address space as it is now using the last of IPv4 address space that it holds. IPv4 address space from this last is allocated according to section 5.1 of "IPv4 Address Allocation and Assignment Policies for the RIPE NCC Service Region". IPv4
Provider-aggregatable (PA) Address space
can only be allocated to RIPE NCC members.
IPv6 assignments
In April 2009
RIPE
Réseaux IP Européens (RIPE, French for "European IP Networks") is a forum open to all parties with an interest in the technical development of the Internet. The RIPE community's objective is to ensure that the administrative and technical coo ...
accepted a policy proposal of January 2006 to assign IPv6 provider-independent
IPv6
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communication protocol, communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic ...
prefixes. Assignments are taken from the address range and have a minimum size of a prefix.
See also
*
Multihoming
Multihoming is the practice of connecting a host or a computer network to more than one network. This can be done in order to increase reliability or performance.
A typical host or end-user network is connected to just one network. Connecting t ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Provider-Independent Address Space
Network addressing
IP addresses