IP Policies

IP Allocation Policy

BGP Routing Policy

Overview
Internet Operating Services efficiently allocates IP addresses to customers based primarily on RFC2050, RFC3177 and the ARIN guidelines. In cooperation with its customers, Internet Operating Services will make the most efficient use of allocated network space so that it can continue to route traffic and obtain new network address space on an as-needed basis.

Internet Operating Services encourages and supports customers who require global address space for their networks, however, it will examine all requests for address space with care to validate the use of the IP numbers that are allocated. In certain limited situations, Internet Operating Services may request a customer to redesign its network before routing new address space to the customer, if the existing range of addresses is sufficient for customer requirements. Internet Operating Services reserves the right to deny new address space in the event a customer unreasonably refuses a valid network re-design request.

Internet Operating Services must answer to ARIN for their allocations and demonstrate efficient utilization. As a result, customers are required to provide the same information to Internet Operating Services that Internet Operating Services provides to the ARIN. Customers demonstrate efficient usage of IP addresses by filling out an IP Questionnaire to document their needs. This document shows, in detail, their plan for using IP addresses over the next 3 to 12 months.

ARIN and IPs

ARIN is the American Registry for Internet Numbers. Every ISP has to demonstrate to ARIN that they have efficiently utilized their existing IP addresses in order to get additional addresses. Efficient utilization is shown by collecting information from each customer on how they are implementing their network. This is where Internet Operating Services's IP Questionnaire (IPQ) comes into play.

ARIN's rules read, in part:

Allocations are based on need, not solely on a predicted customer base.

Allocations are based on an ISP's utilization history, projected 12-month requirement, and other information ARIN deems necessary. Therefore, initial allocations may be relatively small. Likewise, justification for subsequent address blocks will be based on utilization verification supplied to ARIN in the form of reassignment information. The most important factor in evaluating requests for additional address space is the current utilization of address space by the requesting ISP as well as its downstream customers. ISPs must have efficiently utilized all previous allocations, and at least 80% of their most recent allocation in order to receive additional space. This includes all space reassigned to their customers. Therefore, it is important that ISPs require their downstream customers to follow the efficient utilization practices described in this and other ARIN guidelines.

Now that allocation of the /8 to ARIN of IPV4 space has occured, additional requires may apply from ARIN.

Please refer to their website for further information.

Customer Equipment Guidelines

Retail/Corporate [TDM and Ethernet to GigE]

- Customers classed as "Retail" are End-Users. A typical example would be a law firm with offices.

- Retail/Corporate customers accepting service in a Carrier Neutral Datacenter are required to use a Layer-3 device

- A Line sold as "Retail" are only to be used for Internet access for company employees and for company business. Web hosting your own corporate sites is OK, web hosting those of someone else is not.

- Retail lines may use a Switch for Ethernet Connections (or other Layer-2 Device) to connect to Internet Operating Services if they require a /25 (128 IPs) or less.

- If more than a /25 is required on an Ethernet Connection or any size addresses on a TDM circuit, a Router (or other Layer-3 Device) is required.

- Reselling IP services on a Retail line is grounds for cancellation.

Wholesale/ IP Reseller [Ethernet to 10GigE]

- Customers classed as "Wholesale" are those that Resell IP Services of any type on the line. Typical examples of this would be a collocation, streaming, or webhosting company.

- All Resellers are required to use a Router (or other Layer-3 Device) to connect to Internet Operating Services.

Collocation Customers [Ethernet to 10GigE]

- At Internet Operating Services owned and operated Collocation facilities, a Layer-2 device [switch] is permitted to be used on the line, and the block of IP addresses will be directly connected to the interface. No routing is required.

- Customers with traditional 'telco-type' services must use a router, as the line is a point-to-point link and no other connection type is possible. Only a /30 is possible for the router-router interface on a traditional telco-type line, and any justified block size will be routed to you across it. This includes the following. T1, E1, T3, E3, OC3, STM1 customers

General Conditions for Allocations - IPv4

- Routers or other Layer-3 Devices will connect to Internet Operating Services via a /30. If a second router/firewall is needed for hardware level redundancy on the customer end for an Ethernet interface a /29 will be permitted, with the allocated block size routed to the second IP address in the /29. No other block sizes are permitted on the interface for resellers.

- Customers must use at least 50% of their initial allocation immediately (defined as sameday, with a one week window for unexpected equipment issues or unusual circumstances). A utilization rate of less than 50% indicates the customers' immediate needs are for a smaller block. For example, if a /26 (62 useable IPs) is assigned, Internet Operating Services should be able to ping (or otherwise verify usage) 31 of them one week after assigning them.

- Customers must use 80% of the block within three months. If the 80% mark is not reached, Internet Operating Services reserves the right to withdraw the block and reassign a more appropriate size.

- Customers must use 80% of the last-assigned block and 100% of all previous blocks before Internet Operating Services will issue additional IPs. The existing blocks of IPs must respond to ping (or be otherwise documentable), and existing hosts must have forward and reverse DNS. Optimally, customers will receive a block adequate for their documented needs for the next 90 days, use it completely, and come back for more, once a quarter.

- Customer blocks are sub-delegated to customers via SWIP

- ARIN now permits allocation of a /24 when BGP multi-homing is required. Only one /24 is allowed to be assigned from any one ISP and it can them be announced to all ISPs to give you full redundancy. If your other ISP has not assigned a /24 to you for BGP, you may obtain one from Internet Operating Services. See ARIN NRPM Part 4.3.2.6 for more information.

General Conditions for Allocations - IPv6

- The largest IPv6 subnet that will be directly connected to a Internet Operating Services interface is a /64.

- Customers that require no more than 256 subnets over the next 5 years should request a /56.

- All request for mulitlable /48 to a single customers site will require the approval/review of ARIN.

- Customer blocks are sub-delegated to customers via SWIP.

Detailed Documentation Requirements

For IP Requests of a /21 (2048 IPs) or larger, please contact your Service Delivery rep (for your initial allocation) or Customer Service (for additional IPs). Requests of this size are handled on a case-by case basis, and will require extensive documentation, including network engineering plans. In many cases, customers requiring larger blocks of IPs have already met the at-times seemingly convoluted ARIN requirements necessary to get their own block. We can discuss your specific circumstances and offer guidance in this situation. Obtaining your own block allows you to never worry about renumbering all of your machines again, and frees you from being directly dependant on any single ISP for IPs.

If you are a multi-homed customer and you have utilized a /22s worth of IP addresses, you can obtain a block directly from ARIN.

For IPs to be used for your network, Internet Operating Services requires customers to list [IPQ question 8] subnets and the numbers of servers/hosts in them for immediate, 3,6, month, and 12-month requirements. You should also include aggregate blocks that you will be using for customers, but don't detail individual customers or hosts here - we don't expect you to know at any given time what every single customer has going on, provided you gave them an appropriately sized block following the current practice of slow-start and 90-day models.

In most circumstances, Internet Operating Services will allocate IPs based on 3-month requirements. Internet Operating Services may also, at its sole discretion, use the 6-month projections to set aside the next contiguous block for the customer, if it believes there is a high probability of accuracy in the customer projections. Such reservation is not a guarantee that the customer will receive that specific block. If the customer utilizes IPs at the indicated rate, it should not be a problem, but a slower than predicted utilization will likely result in the block being allocated to another customer who can use it immediately.

NAT, Firewalls, and Private IPs

If a proxy firewall or other means that prevents Internet traffic from bidirectionally connecting to internal LAN hosts will be used, the machines behind the "filter" are considered hosts that do not require globally routable IP addresses and do not need to be included in the map. A good example of this would be customer internal PCs and printers - these do not require and for security reasons should not have globally routed IP addresses. In this instance, the customer should use an RFC-specified Private Network (see RFC-1918) for internal networking. Internet Operating Services will assign an appropriately sized net block according to the customer's needs for publicly visible servers in the firewall DMZ (email, www, FTP, etc.).

If you need to use NAT (1:1 IP mapping of internal to external addresses) instead of PAT (1 external IP used by many internal ones), please explain why in IPQ. There are several applications that don't support PAT properly, if you have run into this simply explain the issue.

Downstream Customer IP Needs

For IPs to be used for your downstream customer networks, Internet Operating Services requires its customers to list [IPQ question 8] subnets and the associated downstream customer names. This is analogous to the ARIN requirement of having customers show up in SWIP/RWHOIS, but we have elected to use a simpler requirement due to the typically smaller size of customers obtaining IPs.

No specific details are required as to customer host counts in the IPQ itself; it is assumed that you have enacted similar verification processes on and have policies in place to ensure correct block selection for your downstream customers. If not, future allocations will be affected. Before issuing space, Internet Operating Services reserves the right to ask for documentation provided by your customer to justify assignment of a particular block to them. This is done to spot-check your own internal allocation policies and provide guidance when needed, as you work your way up to receiving your own allocation from ARIN.

Web-hosting Services

If you will be doing IP-based web-hosting, ARIN requires you provide Internet Operating Services with what they term your "technical justification" for doing so, as well as a list of domains and URLs [IPQ question 9]. Name-based web-hosting is the preferred way (whenever possible) as it utilizes significantly fewer addresses, but for a variety of reasons it is not always possible. If you can't use it, please simply explain why. URLs provided as documentation must resolve with both forward and reverse DNS.

View Internet Operating Services forms at http://www.Internet Operating Servicesco.com/Guide/

IP Allocation Policy v2.0 06/1/10

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