RIPEstat BoF at RIPE 64 (Demo s2e04)

The fourth RIPEstat demo of 2012 took place live as part of a "birds of a feather" (BoF) session at RIPE 64 in Ljubljana.  The session included a description of new features , the announcement of a survey (and prize drawing), opportunities for interaction with developers and users, and a reminder of the other times during the RIPE meeting when RIPE NCC staff are available to discuss RIPEstat .

A recording and the slide set - both of which only cover the demo portion of the BoF - are also available.

Introduction to RIPEstat

RIPEstat is a modular and extendable toolbox designed as a single point of access to Internet-related data from RIPE NCC and other sources. Stat stands for statistics and status . It is a work in progress, and is being developed iteratively. Feedback from users helps determine the direction of development. Regular demos provide information about new functionality.

Survey

We want to hear from people who are using RIPEstat--for the first time, as an experienced user, and everything in between. During the BoF session we announced a new survey and drawing.

If you fill in the RIPEstat survey before Friday, 20 April you have a chance to win one a RIPEstat widget t-shirts! (Responses will be accepted until the end of the month, but late responses will not be eligible for the drawing.)

We will randomly select 15 people from those who completed the survey and contact them by email.  Winners of the drawing can pick up their t-shirts at the Info Hub on Friday between 10:30 and 11:00. People who are unable to stop by will receive a shirt by mail with the confirmation of size and mailing address before 1 May.

Figure 1: RIPEstat widget t-shirts

New Features

Address Space Hierarchy Widget

This demo marks the release of the Address Space Hierarchy widget, which shows how address space is distributed, and where a prefix fits within resources of greater or lesser specificity.

Figure 2: Address Space Hierarchy widget

An article examining this widget in depth will be published soon. This widget will also be demonstrated during the Database Working Group session at RIPE 64.

RIPE Database Object Browser Widget

Another newly-released widget is the Object Browser , which also draws upon the information in the RIPE database. It is a tree of objects and their relationships. The information can be easily navigated by selecting any object as the focal point to reveal references to it and where it is referenced. Personal details are limited through rate restrictions, in a manner similar to the one used by the RIPE database.

Figure 3: RIPE Database Object Browser widget

An article highlighting the features of this widget will be made available later this week.  You can also hear this widget described in the Database Working Group session .

Widget Conversion

At RIPE 63 we announced plans to convert all RIPEstat views into widgets, which could be embedded in any web page. This is almost completed, with just a handful of the old-style views remaining. For more details on how to include a RIPEstat widget in your page, check out the widget API documentation .

As part of making widgets, we have also been working on a public data API , which lets you build your own scripts around RIPEstat data.

Ranges

It is now possible to enter an address range in place of a prefix or AS Number (see Figure 4 ). Each widget will interpret the range if it would result in a sensible response (see Figures 5 and 6 ).

Figure 4: Entering a range in RIPEstat

Figure 5: A widget which cannot accept ranges

Figure 6: A widget which can accept ranges

Feedback

For the duration of the RIPE meeting , look for us in person at the locations described in the previous article . You can also offer feedback on RIPEstat at any time through one of our standard channels:

• The comment box on the RIPEstat website allows you to post comments publicly.
• The Measurement Analysis and Tools (MAT) working group mailing list allows for more in-depth discussions.
• Private feedback can be sent to stat@ripe.net .
• The #ripestat tag on Twitter is used by RIPE NCC to discuss and announce RIPEstat.

Future Demo

We are evaluating the demo format . An announcement next demo will be posted once we have had an opportunity to determine what form it should take.

Archive

Videos of previous RIPEstat demos and other RIPEstat movies are available on the RIPE NCC YouTube channel (look for the RIPEstat playlist).

2012

2011