[snip]
>I also advocate owning IP space, not subletting it, because as the article
>aptly states leasing IP space leaves you are the mercy of your provider.
>If they decide to renumber you can be forced to. And should you ever
>decide to switch providers, you must renumber.
While the idea is nice, and convient, it isn't pratical. The current
routing system couldn't handle it if everything was turned back to
that. Remember, they tried it, and we have now what is known as the
'swamp'. This range of ip blocks takes up the majority of space in
the routing tables. They had to stop handling out individual blocks
becuase the routers and there current technology wouldn't be able to
handle the table size if it continued. And giving someone a block of
64 networks just becuase they want there own autonimus network just
doesn't make any sense.
No, the current schema doesn't work realy well, and is even a hastle
for us all to deal with, but how much worse it would be if they had
continued to give anyone, anything they wanted/needed.
Currently, there is even a volentary recall on the networks in the
'swamp'. I doubt many will turn them in, but I would not be
supprised when it becomes a forced issue.
There has been all sorts of talk about this or that type of new
routing and/or network design to 'fix' the problem, but I don't see
any of them actually comeing to light in the near future.
They have to do something in the meen time to preserve what space is
left. Though I would like to see them totaly abolish classes, it
seems(and I'm sure I'm speeking out of turn now myself) that it would
be one of the easer fixes for everyone to make to there router code
and would open up rather large number of networks that could then be
allocated.
>Some providers won't sell you a connection unless you use their IP space -
>that is avoidable with an IP translation device. Number your network and
>customer with your own IPs and translate them - if youy move you reconfigure
>the translation device, NOT the entire network.
Translation devices are infact very nice, you could number your
network with network space that has been reserved for non-connected
networks, as there is no need then for real network addresses.
The problem know though is that it's not yet THAT easy to find a
gateway that will support this feature, and when you do find one
that does it's VERY expensive to purchase if you have a large
active network that requires access to the rest of the world.
I've been told though that the code to perform this is actauly very
small and simple, so one wonders at the boated pricing of such
software/hardware that is currently on the market.
Hey! maybe livingston can add it to there routers... now that would
be a feature indeed.
Jim McKenzie
mcs@isp.net