rfc1627.Network 10 Considered Harmful (Some Practices Shouldn’t be Codified).pdfVIP

Network Working Group E. Lear Request for Comments: 1627 Silicon Graphics, Inc. Category: Informational E. Fair Apple Computer, Inc. D. Crocker Silicon Graphics, Inc. T. Kessler Sun Microsystems, Inc. July 1994 Network 10 Considered Harmful (Some Practices Shouldn’t be Codified) Status of this Memo This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. SUMMARY Re-use of Internet addresses for private IP networks is the topic of the recent RFC 1597 [1]. It reserves a set of IP network numbers, for (re-)use by any number of organizations, so long as those networks are not routed outside any single, private IP network. RFC 1597 departs from the basic architectural rule that IP addresses must be globally unique, and it does so without having had the benefit of the usual, public review and approval by the IETF or IAB. This document restates the arguments for maintaining a unique address space. Concerns for Internet architecture and operations, as well as IETF procedure, are explored. INTRODUCTION Growth in use of Internet technology and in attachments to the Internet have taken us to the point that we now are in danger of running out of unassigned IP network numbers. Initially, numbers were formally assigned only when a network was about to be attached to the