RIPE
Encyclopedia
Réseaux IP Européens is a forum open to all parties with an interest in the technical development of the Internet
. The RIPE community’s objective is to ensure that the administrative and technical coordination necessary to maintain and develop the Internet continues. It is not a standardisation organisation like the IETF
and does not deal with domain name
s like ICANN
.
RIPE is not a legal entity and has no formal membership. This means that anybody who is interested in the work of RIPE can participate through mailing lists and by attending meetings. RIPE has a chairman to keep an eye on work between RIPE meetings and to be its external liaison. Rob Blokzijl
was the spokesperson at the start and later the chairman. The RIPE community interacts via RIPE Mailing Lists, RIPE Working Groups, and RIPE Meetings.
Although similar in name, the RIPE NCC
and RIPE are separate entities. The RIPE NCC
provides administrative support to RIPE, such as the facilitation of RIPE meetings and providing administrative support to RIPE Working Groups. It was established in 1992 by the RIPE community to serve as an administrative body.
, the Netherlands
. It brought together 14 representatives of 6 countries and 11 networks At the time European governments
, standardisation bodies and telecommunications companies were pushing for the OSI standard
and IP-based networks were seen as the wrong way to go. In the academic community (mostly nuclear and particle physics) there was a strong need to work together with colleagues across Europe and the United States. IP provided a standard to allow interconnection and cooperation, whereas the networks offered by the European telecommunications companies often completely lacked that.
RIPE as an organisation was established by the RIPE terms of reference, which were agreed on 29 November 1989. There were ten organisations intending to participate in the RIPE Coordinating Committee, along the lines defined by the RIPE Terms of Reference, though some still needed to make a formal decision. These organisations were: BelWue, CERN
, EASInet, EUnet
, GARR
, HEPnet
, NORDUnet
, SURFnet
, SWITCH
and XLINK
. At the same time task forces were established to facilitate the interconnection of European IP-networks in the following weeks and months The four task forces were:
One of the results was a proposal on 16 September 1990 to establish the RIPE Network Coordination Center (NCC) to support the administrative tasks in the RIPE community and the first RIPE NCC Activity Plan was published in May 1991.
RIPE asked RARE (one of the predecessors of TERENA
) if they would provide the legal framework for the RIPE NCC. After a solicitation procedure, the RIPE NCC began in April 1992 with its headquarters in Amsterdam, Daniel Karrenberg as manager and only two other staff members. Initial funding was provided by the academic networks (RARE members), EARN and EUnet
. The RIPE NCC was formally established when the Dutch version of the articles of association was deposited with the Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce on 12 November 1997.
. This was presented in Special Session of RIPE 58.
es and Autonomous System (AS) Numbers) through a long established, open, bottom-up process of discussion and consensus-based decision making. The RIPE Policy Development Process formally tracks input into and discussion on any policy proposed. The RIPE PDP is transparent and consensus based. Anyone may suggest a new policy or a change to an existing one. Proposals are then discussed and accepted or rejected by the RIPE community according to the RIPE PDP guidelines.
and the general Internet community
. Each of the RIPE Working Groups has a mailing list where topics or questions related to the working group can be discussed. The RIPE Working Groups meet twice a year in dedicated sessions at RIPE Meetings.
or not, that has an interest in the way the Internet
is managed, structured or governed.
The Regional Internet Registry
for the Europe/Middle-East region the RIPE Network Coordination Centre or RIPE NCC is a separate entity but shares the offices and facilities of RIPE.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. The RIPE community’s objective is to ensure that the administrative and technical coordination necessary to maintain and develop the Internet continues. It is not a standardisation organisation like the IETF
Internet Engineering Task Force
The Internet Engineering Task Force develops and promotes Internet standards, cooperating closely with the W3C and ISO/IEC standards bodies and dealing in particular with standards of the TCP/IP and Internet protocol suite...
and does not deal with domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
s like ICANN
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
.
RIPE is not a legal entity and has no formal membership. This means that anybody who is interested in the work of RIPE can participate through mailing lists and by attending meetings. RIPE has a chairman to keep an eye on work between RIPE meetings and to be its external liaison. Rob Blokzijl
Rob Blokzijl
Robert "Rob" Blokzijl is a founding member of Réseaux IP Européens , the European open forum for IP networking. At its foundation in 1989, he was spokesperson for, and still is chair of, this forum...
was the spokesperson at the start and later the chairman. The RIPE community interacts via RIPE Mailing Lists, RIPE Working Groups, and RIPE Meetings.
Although similar in name, the RIPE NCC
RIPE NCC
The Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre is the Regional Internet Registry for Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia...
and RIPE are separate entities. The RIPE NCC
RIPE NCC
The Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre is the Regional Internet Registry for Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia...
provides administrative support to RIPE, such as the facilitation of RIPE meetings and providing administrative support to RIPE Working Groups. It was established in 1992 by the RIPE community to serve as an administrative body.
History
The first RIPE meeting was held on 22 May 1989 in AmsterdamAmsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. It brought together 14 representatives of 6 countries and 11 networks At the time European governments
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, standardisation bodies and telecommunications companies were pushing for the OSI standard
Open Systems Interconnection
Open Systems Interconnection is an effort to standardize networking that was started in 1977 by the International Organization for Standardization , along with the ITU-T.-History:...
and IP-based networks were seen as the wrong way to go. In the academic community (mostly nuclear and particle physics) there was a strong need to work together with colleagues across Europe and the United States. IP provided a standard to allow interconnection and cooperation, whereas the networks offered by the European telecommunications companies often completely lacked that.
RIPE as an organisation was established by the RIPE terms of reference, which were agreed on 29 November 1989. There were ten organisations intending to participate in the RIPE Coordinating Committee, along the lines defined by the RIPE Terms of Reference, though some still needed to make a formal decision. These organisations were: BelWue, CERN
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
, EASInet, EUnet
EUnet
The roots of EUnet go back to 1982 and the first international UUCP connections. From a very loose collaboration of individual sites under the auspices of the EUUG , it evolved to the fully commercial entity EUnet International Ltd.In April 1998 the company was sold to Qwest Communications...
, GARR
Garr
Garr may refer to:*Allen Garr, journalist, author, and journalism instructor based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada*Ralph Garr , former Major League Baseball player*Teri Garr, American actress*Garr King , judge of the U.S...
, HEPnet
HEPnet
HEPnet or the High-Energy Physics Network is a telecommunications network for researchers in high-energy physics. It originated in the United States, but that has spread to most places involved in such research. Well-known sites include Argonne National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory...
, NORDUnet
NORDUnet
NORDUnet is an international collaboration between the Nordic national computer networks for research and education. The members of NORDUnet are:* SUNET of Sweden* UNINETT of Norway* FUNET of Finland* Forskningsnettet of Denmark* RHnet of Iceland...
, SURFnet
SURFnet
SURFnet is both the name for the organisation that develops, implements and maintains the national research and education network of the Netherlands as well as the network it operates. As one of the first networks linked to the Internet outside the USA the organisation has taken the lead in the...
, SWITCH
SWITCH Information Technology Services
SWITCH is the manager of the .ch and .li country-code top-level domains for Switzerland and Liechtenstein, respectively. It also manages the educational networks among Swiss universities, and the links to other university networks. It also mirrors open source software .- External links :**...
and XLINK
XLINK (ISP)
XLINK originally was the eXterne Lokale Informatik-Netz Karlsruhe ....
. At the same time task forces were established to facilitate the interconnection of European IP-networks in the following weeks and months The four task forces were:
- Connectivity and Routing
- Network Management and Operations
- Domain Name System
- Formal Coordination
One of the results was a proposal on 16 September 1990 to establish the RIPE Network Coordination Center (NCC) to support the administrative tasks in the RIPE community and the first RIPE NCC Activity Plan was published in May 1991.
RIPE asked RARE (one of the predecessors of TERENA
TERENA
The Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association is a not-for-profit association of European national research and education networks incorporated in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
) if they would provide the legal framework for the RIPE NCC. After a solicitation procedure, the RIPE NCC began in April 1992 with its headquarters in Amsterdam, Daniel Karrenberg as manager and only two other staff members. Initial funding was provided by the academic networks (RARE members), EARN and EUnet
EUnet
The roots of EUnet go back to 1982 and the first international UUCP connections. From a very loose collaboration of individual sites under the auspices of the EUUG , it evolved to the fully commercial entity EUnet International Ltd.In April 1998 the company was sold to Qwest Communications...
. The RIPE NCC was formally established when the Dutch version of the articles of association was deposited with the Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce on 12 November 1997.
Name
It seems that the name is the result of a translation of the English title of a diagram to French by John QuartermanJohn Quarterman
John S. Quarterman is an American author and long time Internet participant. He wrote one of the classic books about networking prior to the commercialization of the Internet...
. This was presented in Special Session of RIPE 58.
Documents
A RIPE document is any document, proposal, procedure or policy that has been proposed and accepted by the RIPE community. All RIPE documents are published online in the RIPE Document Store.Policy development
The RIPE community develops and sets policies for the technical coordination of the Internet and the management and distribution of Internet resources (IP addressIP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
es and Autonomous System (AS) Numbers) through a long established, open, bottom-up process of discussion and consensus-based decision making. The RIPE Policy Development Process formally tracks input into and discussion on any policy proposed. The RIPE PDP is transparent and consensus based. Anyone may suggest a new policy or a change to an existing one. Proposals are then discussed and accepted or rejected by the RIPE community according to the RIPE PDP guidelines.
Meetings
RIPE meetings happen twice a year. Usually, one meeting is held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and the other somewhere in the RIPE NCC service region. The meetings are five-day events where Internet Service Providers (ISPs), network operators, government representatives, regulators and other interested parties gather to discuss relevant issues, developments and policies. RIPE Meetings are open to anyone, although registration is required. The meeting always ends with a presentation to the Secret Working Group. The presentation consists of limericks, haikus, etc. referring to what happened at the meeting or in the community.Working groups
The RIPE community has formed a number of RIPE Working Groups to deal with various issues and topics related to the work of RIPE NCC membersRIPE NCC
The Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre is the Regional Internet Registry for Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia...
and the general Internet community
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. Each of the RIPE Working Groups has a mailing list where topics or questions related to the working group can be discussed. The RIPE Working Groups meet twice a year in dedicated sessions at RIPE Meetings.
Community
The RIPE community refers collectively to any individual or organisation, whether members of the RIPE NCCRIPE NCC
The Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre is the Regional Internet Registry for Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia...
or not, that has an interest in the way the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
is managed, structured or governed.
RIPE NCC
- See own page on RIPE NCCRIPE NCCThe Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre is the Regional Internet Registry for Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia...
The Regional Internet Registry
Regional Internet Registry
A regional Internet registry is an organization that manages the allocation and registration of Internet number resources within a particular region of the world...
for the Europe/Middle-East region the RIPE Network Coordination Centre or RIPE NCC is a separate entity but shares the offices and facilities of RIPE.