ARIN-prop-231: Eliminate HD-Ratio from NRPM [Archived]

ARIN-prop-231 Eliminate HD-Ratio from NRPM

Proposal Originator: Owen DeLong

Date: 13 June 2016

Problem Statement:

The HD-Ratio has become an anachronism in the NRPM and some of the vestigial references to it create confusion about recommended prefix sizes for IPv6 resulting in a belief in the community that ARIN endorses the idea of /56s as a unit of measure in IPv6 assignments. While there are members of the community that believe a /56 is a reasonable choice, ARIN policy has always allowed and still supports /48 prefixes for any and all end-sites without need for further justification. More restrictive choices are still permitted under policy as well. This proposal does not change that, but it attempts to eliminate some possible confusion.

The last remaining vestigial references to HD-Ratio are contained in the community networks policy (Section 6.5.9). This policy seeks to replace 6.5.9 with new text incorporating end user policy by reference (roughly equivalent to the original intent of 6.5.9 prior to the more recent changes to end-user policy). While this contains a substantial rewrite to the Community Networks policy, it will not have any negative impact on community networks. It may increase the amount of IPv6 space a community network could receive due to the change from HD-Ratio, but not more than any other similar sized end-user would receive under existing policy.

Policy statement:

Replace section 6.5.9 in its entirety as follows:

6.5.9 Community Network Assignments

While community networks would normally be considered to be ISP type organizations under existing ARIN criteria, they tend to operate on much tighter budgets and often depend on volunteer labor. As a result, they tend to be much smaller and more communal in their organization rather than provider/customer relationships of commercial ISPs. This section seeks to provide policy that is more friendly to those environments by allowing them to use end-user criteria.
6.5.9.1 Qualification Criteria

To qualify under this section, a community network must demonstrate to ARIN’s satisfaction that it meets the definition of a community network under section 2.11 of the NRPM.
6.5.9.2 Receiving Resources

Once qualified under this section, a community network shall be treated as an end-user assignment for all ARIN purposes (both policy and fee structure) unless or until the board adopts a specific more favorable fee structure for community networks.

Community networks shall be eligible under this section only for IPv6 resources and the application process and use of those resources shall be governed by the existing end-user policy contained in section 6.5.8 et. seq.

Community networks seeking other resources shall remain subject to the policies governing those resources independent of their election to use this policy for IPv6 resources.

Delete section 2.8 — This section is non-operative and conflicts with the definitions of utilization contained in current policies.

Delete section 2.9 — This section is no longer operative.

Delete section 6.7 — This section is no longer applicable.

Comments:

Timetable for implementation: Immediate

Anything else

Originally, I thought this would be an editorial change as the HD-Ratio has been unused for several years.

However, further research revealed that it is still referenced in the Community Networks policy which has also gone unused since its inception. As a result, I am going to attempt to simultaneously simplify the Community Networks policy while preserving its intent and eliminate the HD-Ratio from the NRPM.

I realize that fees are out of scope for policy, however, in this case, we are not setting fees. We are addressing in policy which fee structure the given policy should operate under in a manner which does not constrain board action on actual fees.

This is an attempt to preserve the original intent of the Community networks policy in a way that may make it less vestigial.

Alternatively, we could simply delete Section 6.5.9 if that is preferred. The primary goal here is to get rid of vestigial reference to HD-Ratio rather than to get wrapped around the axle on community networks.