The internet industry is unprepared for the
fundamentalchange
in how it sends messagesthat will happen on
New Year's Day 2009.
From the new year, the internet will use four-byte addresses
(so-called 32-bit addresses), which means it can send messages to
more than four billion discrete networks, compared with the 65,536
available with the current two-byte addresses, also known as
Autonomous System (AS) numbers.
The change is essential to prevent the internet running out of
address space as more networks connect to it. Not adapting to the
change would be like leaving the city and postcode off a letter's
address.
Geoff Huston, chief scientist at APNIC, the Regional Internet
Registry for the Asia Pacific region, said he was deeply worried by
the industry's lack of readiness.
"New entrants and networks that are expanding or merging will
need new AS numbers, and
as of 1 January 2009 these will be, by default, four-byte AS
numbers," he said. "If router software and support systems in
critical parts of the internet's infrastructure are not upgraded by
January, we will encounter some significant network routing
problems."
Check routers
CIOs and network administrators will need to check that their
network routers can cope. Although the new system should
accommodate the old, there is a chance that some messages to and
from older systems may not get through.
About 90% of the routers affected by the change are made by
Cisco. Ian Foddering, systems engineer manager at Cisco UK, said a
new version of its IOS software to accommodate the change was under
test. "We are well aware of the timescale," he said, adding that
the required functionality already existed in version IOS-XR 3.4,
which has been available since September 2006.
Organisations affected are mostly telecommunications carriers,
internet service providers, private network owners who switch
messages to more than one other network, and outsourced network
operators. Those with older routers may have to add more memory as
well as upgrade their software, said Foddering.
Change management
Most internet users are unlikely to be affected because their
network operator should have a change management plan in place for
the upgrade.
"If you don't have an AS number, you don't need to worry about
the change," said Malcolm Hutty, a spokesman for the
London Internet Exchange. "But
if you have outsourced your network, it's as well to check that
your network provider is set up for the change. Otherwise, you'll
find messages being dropped."
Andrew de la Haye, COO at RIPE NCC, which allocates AS numbers
in Europe, said CIOs could check their routers by seeing whether
the software specification was compatible with the longer four-byte
AS numbers. "You can also run a quick test by configuring one of
their four-byte peers," he said.
Software update
Organisations would need to ask their hardware vendor whether
they offer four-byte AS number functions, said de la Haye. "If the
hardware vendor is able to offer this, all that is required is a
software update. However, if the hardware vendor does not support
four-byte AS numbers, the CIO will need to replace the router,
possibly from a new supplier."
Foddering said Cisco users could look up the
Software Advisor on the Cisco website to see when the new
software would be available and what other changes they would need
to make.
A spokesman for ISPA, the UK's trade body for internet service
providers, said, "We don't get involved in managing members'
networks."
More about AS numbers and the looming
change
An Autonomous System (AS) is a collection of networks or routers
administered as a group sharing a common set of routing policies,
each defined with a unique AS number. AS numbers are a vital part
of the internet's core routing system, the Border Gateway Protocol
(BGP).
Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) began allocating four-byte
AS numbers by request in January 2007. From January 2009 they will
allocate them by default.
There is a wiki with more on the
operational implications of the change.
APNIC has set up a special
website for vendors.
Network users can also contact
RIPE NCC, which looks after
internet resources for Europe, parts of Asia and the Middle
East.