Mirjam Kühne gave a presentation at re:publica in Berlin on May 2nd about maintaining internet infrastructure. She discussed how the internet is made up of different layers including protocols, IP addresses, and autonomous systems. She explained that organizations like RIPE and the IETF help coordinate these systems through open, collaborative processes. Maintaining unique IP addresses and distributing them appropriately is important for the functioning of the internet. Participation in these coordination efforts helps protect the collaborative model that has supported the growth of the internet.

1. re:publica | Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018
Mirjam Kühne
RIPE NCC
Maintaining the Internet
Infrastructure

2. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 2
Introduction
• Informatik an der TU-Berlin
• In einer Reihe von not-for-profits gearbeitet
• Jetzt bei RIPE NCC
- not-for-profit in Amsterdam
- Senior Community Builder
Der Rest in English :-)

3. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 3
What happens under the hood

4. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 4
Internet layers

5. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 5
A network of networks
network A
(AS 1)
network C
(AS 3)
network B
(AS 2)
193.0.0.0
193.0.0.1
193.0.0.2
IP transport protocol
(TCP/IP)

6. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 6
Internet infrastructure
• Internet protocols / standards
- TCP/IP, email, ftp, http, ..
• IP addresses / numbers
- IPv4: 193.0.22.0/23
- IPv6: 2001:67:2e8::/48
- Autonomous System Numbers: AS3333

7. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 7
Protocols & standards
• The Internet Engineering Task Force
- started in 1986
- independent, not-for-profit
- not even a legal entity
• Anyone can participate
• People participate as individuals
- companies or governments have no special rights
• No voting
- consensus by humming

8. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 8
https://ietf.org
• Standard documents available for free
• Very different from other SDOs

9. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 9
IP addresses
• Unique identifiers (numbers)
- only 4.3 billion numbers in total
• labs.ripe.net = 193.0.06.153

10. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 10
Address distribution
• Addresses need to be unique
- otherwise packets cannot be delivered
• Addresses need to be registered
- so you know who uses what

11. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 11
Address distribution
• 1980s: Central distribution
- Jon Postel
- everyone (universities) got a range of addresses
• Didn’t scale
- more de-centralisation needed

12. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 12
RIPE community
• Started in 1989 by researchers in Europe
• Technical coordination of IP network
• Volunteers, no legal structure
• Open to anybody
- meetings
- working groups
- mailing lists
• Collaboration and coordination

13. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 13
RIPE NCC
• Not-for-profit, independent, neutral
• Started in 1992
• Membership organisation (18,000 members)

14. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 !14
The Internet Registry System

15. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 15
Collaborative model
little government
influence
self regulation
community
decisions
stewardship,
no ownership
Common
good
not for
profit
consensus

16. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 16
Threats to the collaborative model

17. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 17
Participate!

18. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 18
RIPE Meetings
• Two times a year, one week
- plenary sessions, working groups, hallway chats
• Remote participation possible
- student rates, one-day passes, fellowship programme
• RIPE 76: Marseille, 14 - 18 May
- https://ripe76.ripe.net
• RIPE 77: Amsterdam, 15 - 19 October
- https://ripe77.ripe.net

19. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 !19
• Publish your research or use case
• Reach out to RIPE Community
• Read about latest analysis or conferences
• labs.ripe.net

20. Mirjam Kühne | re:publica, Berlin, Germany | 2 May 2018 !20
Contact details & references
• mir@ripe.net
• @mir_ripe_labs
• labs.ripe.net
• www.ripe.net
• ietf.org