------------------------------------------------------------------- APNIC Document identity Title: Asia Pacific Network Information Center Pilot Project Proposal Short title: apnic-project-proposal Document ref: APNIC-001 Version: 001 Date of original publication: 1 September 1993 Date of this version: 1 September 1993 Review scheduled: n/a Obsoletes: n/a Status: Historical Comments: n/a -------------------------------------------------------------------- APNIC-003.0 J. Murai & D. Conrad Project Proposal September 1993 Asia Pacific Network Information Center Pilot Project Proposal Issued: September 1, 1993 Expires: Not Applicable 1. Introduction In order to continue the effort of coordinating the various regional Network Information Centers and other organizations involved in Internetworking in the Asia Pacific region, this documents proposes a pilot project to implement an Asia Pacific Network Information Center. 1.1 Purpose This pilot project proposes to provide a testbed for experimenta- tion into the area of network coordination in the Asia Pacific region. The areas of study will include IP address allocation strategies, coor- dination with other regional NICs and NCCs such as the InterNIC and RIPE NCC, determination of the requirements and means to fulfill those requirements for the operation of the APNIC, and experimentation with various software tools used for coordinating various aspects of Inter- networking interactions. 1.2 Scope This pilot project, coordinated under the auspices of the APCCIRN, is intended to provide network coordination services to the Asia Pacific region in an experimental fashion. Further action in terms of APNIC support and continuation of the services provided by the APNIC will be dependent upon lessons learned during the pilot project. 1.3 Duration The APNIC pilot project will operate for up to 10 months, starting on September 1, 1993. 1.4 Reporting The personnel involved in the APNIC pilot project will produce 2 reports for the APCCIRN. The first will be a mid-term report, presented during the Winter, 1993 APCCIRN meeting, and the other will be a final report which will be presented during the Summer, 1994 APCCIRN meeting. Murai & Conrad [Page 1] APNIC-003.0 December 1993 2. Functions For the purposes of this pilot project, the functions performed by the APNIC can be broken up into two broad categories. Ordered by prior- ity, they are: 1) Internet Registry 2) Routing Registry Other functions typically performed by Network Information Centers, such as information provision and direct user support are beyond the scope of this pilot project. 2.1 Internet Registry Functions The Internet Registry category includes such services as allocating IP addresses as a designated regional Internet Registry, organizing and maintaining a "White Pages" of network points of contact, and of lesser priority for this pilot project, maintaining a database of DNS delega- tions for network name lookup. 2.2 Routing Registry Functions The routing registry category describes those functions which have been pinpointed as necessary for maintenance and support of routing issues in the global Internet. These issues include maintaining a data- base of routing policies and, when the need exists in the Internet at large, organizing and maintaining a database of CIDR aggregations. 3. Requirements The requirements for this pilot project are broken down into four categories: funding, hardware, software, and personnel. 3.1 Funding All funding for the APNIC pilot project will be derived from JPNIC resources. The JPNIC has committed 10% of its resources to fulfill the APNIC funding requirements. During the pilot project, investigation of other avenues of funding for continuation of the services provided by the APNIC will be undertaken. 3.2 Hardware For the purposes of this pilot project, the hardware requirements will be limited to a single workstation class computer with sufficient disk and network capacity to fulfill the needs of the project. JPNIC has agreed to share the use of its machines for the APNIC pilot. Murai & Conrad [Page 2] APNIC-003.0 December 1993 3.3 Software The APNIC pilot project will require software to create and main- tain the databases for both the Internet Registry functions and the Routing Registry functions. The software for the Internet Registry functions will consist of data- base and other software that will allow the process of allocating and registering IP addresses to be made as automatic as possible. JPNIC has indicated that software written and used by JPNIC for the maintenance of the Japanese Internet registry will be available for use for the APNIC pilot project and it is assumed that software packages from other NICs and NCCs may also be used. In terms of software for the routing registry functions of this pilot project, the RIPE NCC routing registry tools will be used. 3.4 Personnel The personnel requirements for this project have been broken down as follows: 0.25 FTE Managerial support 0.50 FTE Technical support 1.00 FTE Administrative support These personnel requirements will be fulfilled by drawing from the resources of JPNIC as well as other interested parties. Specifically, the following personnel have indicated their interest in contributing to this pilot project: Masaya Nakayama, University of Tokyo Masaki Hirabaru, Kyushu University Taeha Park, KAIST David Conrad, Internet Initiative Japan, Inc. Since the APNIC will be involved in regional networking issues, it is hoped that other members of the Asia Pacific networking community will be able to contribute to this pilot project. 4. Conclusion This document outlines a proposal for the establishment of an Asia Pacific Network Information Center which will investigate the require- ments for the operation of a network information center in the Asia Pacific region. The pilot project will start on September 1 and will operate for up to 10 months, will concentrate on Internet and routing registry functions, and will produce two reports for the APCCIRN. It is Murai & Conrad [Page 3] APNIC-003.0 December 1993 hoped this pilot project will provide information which may be of help in establishing a permanent network information center in the Asia Pacific Region. 5. Author's Addresses Dr. Jun Murai Keio University 5322 Endo Fujisawa 252 Japan Tel: +81-4-6649-1100 Fax: +81-4-6649-1101 Email: jun@wide.ad.jp David R. Conrad Internet Initiative Japan, Inc. 2-11-2 Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100 Japan Tel: +81-3-3580-3781 Fax: +81-3-3580-3782 Email: davidc@iij.ad.jp Murai & Conrad [Page 4]