Updated ARIN allocation information

Fri Jan 31 23:45:24 UTC 2014

* Mark Andrews

> I understand this but this block changes the status quo.  It is a
> policy changer.  AFAIK ARIN hasn't done allocations to the /28 level
> like this in the past.  This is all new territory.

It's not exactly new. Like I've mentioned earlier in this thread, the
RIPE NCC has granted assignments smaller than /24 to requestors since,
well, "forever". There are currently 238 such assignments listed in
delegated-ripencc-extended-latest.txt. However, these microscopic
assignments have proven hugely unpopular, amounting for only a fraction
of a percent of the total (there are 27733 assignments equal to or
larger than /24 in the same file).

What I fail to understand from this thread is the apparent expectation
that these smaller-than-/24 microscopic delegations from ARIN will be
popular. As I read the policy in question, the requestors may get a /24
instead. That's a pretty miniature block to begin with and trivial to
justify, and given human nature of wanting to grab as much of something
as you can (especially when you in all likelihood cannot get nearly as
much as you actually need), coupled with the fact that a /24 is likely
to be immensely more useful than anything smaller...well, I just don't
see why we shouldn't realistically expect that pretty much all of the
assignments being made from this block will be exactly /24, and that
exceptions that prove the rule will amount for <1% of the total - just
like we've seen happen in the RIPE region.

Oh well. Time will tell, I suppose.

Tore