Alun Davies
Based in Amsterdam
Articles
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Based in Amsterdam
Hailing from a research background in philosophy, linguistics and computer science, I came to the RIPE NCC back in 2016 and took on my role as the RIPE Labs Editor in 2020. My job is to help keep all corners of the Internet community informed and engaged on developments and events that continue to shape the Internet as we know it. As RIPE Labs editor, I'm here to help you to get your ideas across on RIPE Labs. Whether you have questions about how to create a new article or profile, need help preparing a draft article for publication, or would just like to discuss whether your idea would be a good fit for RIPE Labs, don't hesitate to get in touch.
RIPE Atlas Software Probes
RIPE Atlas probes are now available as software, offering future hosts a new way to help build the RIPE Atlas network. While not a replacement for their hardware counterparts, software probes will improve coverage by bringing RIPE Atlas to new and previously hard-to-reach places.
RIPE NCC Country Report: Russia
RIPE NCC Day Moscow takes place on 9 April. In conjunction with the event, which has been organised to allow network engineers and other technical staff to share their knowledge and experiences, we’d like to share with you the second in our new series of country reports.
RIPE Atlas Anchors 400+
On 3 January, the number of connected RIPE Atlas anchors hit 400. Here's a look at some of the recent developments that helped get us there.
Announcing RIPE Atlas VM Anchors
After a successful pilot project and a period spent gathering feedback from the community, RIPE Atlas Virtual Machine (VM) anchors are a go. Anyone out there who wishes to host a virtual RIPE Atlas anchor can do so starting today. Here's everything you need to know to get started.
2018 Campaign to Sponsor 10 RIPE Atlas Anchors
Last year, the RIPE NCC ran a campaign to sponsor a batch of RIPE Atlas anchors. The campaign was well received by the community and helped us deploy anchors in a variety of new locations. So, this year, we're doing it again.
RIPE Atlas Probes: Delays in Distribution
The good news: RIPE Atlas is growing both in terms of geographical diversity and ASN coverage. What's more, RIPE Atlas is evolving, with a new generation of probe hardware having already passed the test phase and a pilot programme underway to assess the viability of VM anchors. The not so good news…
Last Sponsored RIPE Atlas Anchors for 2017
The RIPE NCC's 2017 campaign to sponsor fifteen RIPE Atlas anchors has come to an end. Find out where the latest batch of sponsored anchors are located and learn more about some of the developments that took place in the last leg of the campaign.
Celebrating 10,000 Active RIPE Atlas Probes
In August 2017, just short of seven years after RIPE Atlas was launched, the number of connected RIPE Atlas probes hit 10,000. That’s a lot of probes and it marks a big moment for the RIPE Atlas project.
Introducing RIPE Atlas v3 Anchors
The wait for the next generation of RIPE Atlas anchors is at an end. The RIPE NCC is ready to start approving applications for the new RIPE Atlas v3 anchors...although at a steady pace to start.
Interested readers might want to take a look at the follow-up discussion currently taking place on the RIPE NCC Services Group Mailing List: https://www.ripe.net/ripe/mail/archives/ncc-services-wg/2021-May/thread.html
“When I and my journalistic colleague, Jan Vermeulen of MyBroaddband.co.za began our investigations into this colossal and truly epic malfeasance and theft of valuable IPv4 resources in mid 2019, the notion of either of us becoming famous or of receiving any credit for unraveling and publicly documenting this gigantic scandal was not what motivated us, nor has it been, since the beginning. Rather, we merely wished to right some wrongs and return to the people of Africa some IP resources critically needed for the ongoing development of the Internet in Africa. Nonetheless, it would have been, I think, at least minimally respectful if either AFRINIC or (now) RIPE had taken a moment to at least mention our names and our very evident, abundant, and key contributions towards exposing this whole huge mess. Neither organization, it seems, has thus far elected to do so publicly. Such is the reward, or lack thereof, of a job well done.”
Sorry for the oversight. I've updated the article with some additional information and a link so readers can find out more about how the news emerged.
“The link to the full AFRINIC whois audit report is not working.”
Thanks Wessel! Should be working for everyone now.
“small (almost rhetorical but not really) question. do you assume these outages were created manually on request of state regulator?”
As we say, our purpose here is really to see what our data has to tell us about the scale and impact of the outages. Nothing in the data we've been looking at determines what caused the outages.
“Any info about traffic packet loss from probes?”
Good question. Arriving at a proper answer to this would require looking at all measurements from all probes for the past four days to find out if any observed packet losses is related to the outage or to other issues in the path to the destination. From a first peek at one probe that disconnected for two days and came back, it seems that (some/all?) IPv4 pings did make it through all the time. IPv6 on the other hand had 100% packet loss. See: https://atlas.ripe.net/probes/25114/#tab-builtins
“A small correction - population is 9,5 mil. people”
Fixed. Thank you!
“Hi, I have been waiting for 8 months for a spare drive (maybe v4) for probe # 34441 that has stopped working. Will I get a spare unit by the end of the year?”
Hi Michele - according to our records, you applied for a new probe last April. The latest batch of version 4 probes is being shipped as we speak. We can confirm that your new probe is on its way to you.
“Is anybody here? Сan we use docker or lxc instead of VM?”
Apologies for the late response. The answer to your question is no. Using docker or LXC is not possible at present.
“Any updates?”
Hi Sascha - for the latest on RIPE Atlas probes, please check this article: https://labs.ripe.net/Members/alun_davies/new-ripe-atlas-version-4-probes
“Any news on the probe VM solution?”
Hi Joshua - we are currently gathering feedback on RIPE Atlas software probes and we are seeking volunteers willing to partner with us and help package the software for various operating systems and platforms. If you're interested in sending feedback or volunteering, let us know by filling in this short survey: https://www.ripe.net/participate/forms/apply/atlas-probes/
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