This is the first in a series of "interesting graphs" we are publishing in CircleID on a regular basis. The graph will always be published on RIPE Labs as well together with additional information and details. Here we will also describe the methodology used when producing those statistics.
It is 3 months since we first ran the IPv6 ripeness check. As the unallocated IPv4 address pool runs out, are the LIRs actually deploying IPv6 and is the deployment rate increasing? The graph below shows the IPv6 ripeness rate of all countries in the RIPE NCC service region as measured in July 2010 (you can click on the image to enlarge it).
Since April 2010 when we ran those statistics the first time, the numbers have not increased dramatically, but we can see a small steady growth which is encouraging.
For those who are new to this, you can find below a description of the methodology used to make the graph. For more details, please refer to the original article: IPv6 Ripeness - First Steps .
Methodology
We looked at all LIRs registered in the RIPE NCC service region and determined their home country based on their Reg-ID (country-code.name). We realise that the actual location, or even some of the services the LIR provides, might be in a different country, or in multiple countries.
In order to earn the first star, an LIR must have received an IPv6 allocation, or a PI assignment. Requesting IPv6 address space and fulfilling the criteria for an initial allocation is relatively easy: the organisation simply has to “have a plan for making sub-allocations to other organisations and/or End Site assignments within two years.”
Additional stars can be earned if:
- The IPv6 prefix is visible in the Routing Information System . For us, this means that the prefix is announced; it can happen, though, that address space is announced to peers and upstreams, but is still not visible in RIS.
- A route6 object for the IPv6 prefix is registered in the RIPE Database. Note that this is not absolutely necessary for deploying IPv6, but it is a measure of good housekeeping. Some transit providers or Internet Exchange Points use route(6) objects as a requirement for accepting customers or peers. The RIPE NCC Routing Registry training course explains this in detail.
- Reverse DNS is set up for the IPv6 prefix. This is not strictly necessary for a working IPv6 service, but it is seen as good practice.
If an LIR has multiple IPv6 address allocations, de-aggregated prefixes, multiple route6 objects or less specific reverse DNS delegation, that LIR would still only receive one star in each category in the rating system.
In order to anonymise the results, we decided to only show countries that have more than five LIRs. There are a number of LIRs that have chosen 'eu' as their country of operation. These are mostly organisations that have their headquarters in other regions, but also run a network and provide services in the RIPE NCC service region.
Please also note that this rating system does not guarantee that an LIR that has four stars has a working IPv6 setup. On the other hand, an LIR that has one star only (that means it has an IPv6 allocation but does not fulfill any of the other criteria) may very well have a functioning IPv6 network (just hasn't done very good housekeeping... yet).
All measurements are based on data in the Internet Number Resource Database ( INRDB ).
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