RIPEstat Demo - s2e03

This was a very busy month for RIPEstat development!  We added two new widgets: ASN Neighbours and Geolocation History .  Four old plugins were revamped and re-released as embeddable widgets: Prefix Count , Prefix Size Distribution , Routing History , and Announced Prefixes . By enabling logins through RIPE NCC Access, we were able to introduce configuration options which persist beyond the length of a session. Last but not least, we added a link to RIPEstat in the RIPE database, for easy access to more detailed information about selected objects.

In the coming month, RIPEstat development will focus on a graphical representation of the RIPE database (RIPE Whois), with Address Space Hierarchy and Object Browser widgets. We'll also work on adding additional customisation, and on converting more plugins to data calls and widgets.

It's also time for us to evaluate our demo format, so please take a moment to give us your feedback about what you like about our demos, and what you want changed.

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. 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.

This month's demonstration is also available as a video and slideshow .

New Features

Several of the new features described in this demonstration-- RIPE NCC Access , ASN Neighbours , and Geolocation History --were detailed earlier in articles on RIPE Labs.  This article includes only a brief summary of features which were previously described.

RIPE NCC Access

In the last month, RIPEstat enabled RIPE NCC Access, a single-sign-on system which allows greater individual customisation which persists beyond the duration of a session.  There is a RIPE Labs article which explains more about this development.

Since the introduction of RIPE NCC Access in RIPEstat, a new personal query history was created.  When you are logged in, you can see a persistent, searchable history of your queries, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Personal query history when logged in with RIPE NCC Access

ASN Neighbours Widget

ASN Neighbours , which was mentioned in the previous demo ,  was developed as a widget. ASN Neighbours displays information about left- and right-neighbours found in routing paths. Refer to the article on this widget for more details.

Figure 2: ASN Neighbours widget

Geolocation History Widget

The Geolocation History widget tells you where address space was distributed in the past, and how this has changed over time. More information is available in the article focusing on this widget .

Figure 3: Geolocation History widget

Prefix Count Widget

Prefix Count is a new embeddable widget which replaced the old plugin Number of announced prefixes . With this change, we not only show the prefixes announced by an AS over time, but also the amount of address space. Another new aspect is that it is now possible to view IPv4 and IPv6 addresses independently.

Figure 4: Prefix Count widget

Prefix Size Distribution Widget

Prefix Size Distribution was converted from a plugin to an embeddable widget. This change included a new visual approach, where IPv4 and IPv6 space are separated and prefixes are further detailed using a 'doughnut' shape (Figure 5). An address space mode, which calculates ratios of prefix sizes per IP version, was also added (Figure 6).

Figure 5: Prefix Size Distribution widget

Figure 6: Prefix Size Distribution widget displaying addresses

Routing History Widget

Routing History was converted from an ordinary view to a widget. In the process we also added filters to help give you more control over what you see. By default, the filters block abnormal results, but by disabling them you can see the information without restriction.

Figure 7: Routing History widget

Announced Prefixes Widget

We also converted Announced Prefixes from a view to an embeddable widget. There were no major changes to the functionality.

Figure 8: Announced Prefixes widget

RIPE Database

The RIPE database team added links to RIPEstat for lookups of aut-nums, route objects, and inet6nums. The option to access RIPEstat for more information about a resource is given when the mouse is hovered over the object.

Figure 9: Link to RIPEstat in RIPE database

Upcoming Development

Our focus for the next iteration is to create a graphical representation of the RIPE database ("RIPE Whois"). Two widgets are planned as part of this effort: Address Space Hierarchy and Object Browser . Below are examples of what these widgets may look like.

Figure 10: Mock-up of Address Space Hierarchy widget

Figure 11: Preview of Object Browser widget

Of course, we will also continue to convert plugins to widgets, and we will explore the customisation options opened up through enabling RIPE NCC Access.

Feedback

This marks the third demo in the new, pre-recorded demo format . We would like to hear your thoughts about this change. Do you prefer this format, or the original WebEx format?  What other changes would you like us to make? Do you feel that the demos keep you informed about RIPEstat development? Please let us know --we are now at the stage where we want to re-evaluate the format.

There are several ways in which you can offer feedback:

• 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.

Next Demo

Our next RIPEstat demo will be live, at RIPE 64 in Ljubljana during the week of 16-20 April 2012. We will announce the exact date and time closer to the event, with an article on RIPE Labs .

However, we already know that it will be held during one of the birds of a feather (BoF) sessions. We hope to make this more like a usual BoF session, with more opportunity for questions and interactions than the typical demo. The presented portion will still be released as a video for people who aren't able to attend the live demo, and naturally there will also be a summary on RIPE Labs.

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