RFC 1814 (rfc1814) - Page 2 of 3

Unique Addresses are Good

RFC 1814               Unique Addresses are Good               June 1995


   The preconditions defined in RFC 1466 are limited to number of hosts
   and subnets as well as an engineering plan.  The existence of private
   address space (RFC 1597) shall not prevent an enterprise from
   obtaining public address space according to the allocation criteria
   (currently, RFC 1466).

   An enterprise may be required by a Internet registry to submit an
   engineering plan documenting a realistic deployment schedule and
   reasonable attention to conservation of address space to support the
   size of the enterprise's request for globally unique IP addresses.

   It is perfectly appropriate for an Internet registry to inform an
   organization of the provisions of RFC 1597.  Any organization
   considering the use of private network numbers should carefully
   consider the potential advantages and possible problems as discussed
   in RFCs 1597 and 1627.

   RFC 1597 establishes reserved IP address space for the use of private
   networks which are isolated and will remain isolated from the
   Internet. Thus RFC 1597 documents a way that private enterprises may
   assure that their networks will remain segregated from the Internet.
   The addresses designated in RFC 1597 should not be routed by the
   Internet.

   Any enterprise with a significantly large number of hosts which might
   require external connectivity to the Internet at the IP layer should
   apply for a block of globally unique addresses from an Internet
   registry.  Enterprises with a small to medium number of hosts that
   require external connectivity to the Internet at the IP layer should
   expect to use globally unique addresses for these hosts, assigned to
   them by their current Internet service provider from its own assigned
   addresses, if it has such addresses to distribute.

   If an enterprise with a small to medium number of hosts desires
   unique IP addresses, and is unable to obtain them under reasonable
   conditions from a service provider, or has no service provider, the
   Internet registries are recommended to assign such addresses without
   conditions with respect to service provider selection.  The
   registries should make clear to the enterprise that when the
   enterprise decides to connect to the Internet, the assigned addresses
   are no guarantee of Internet-wide IP connectivity. In fact, some
   service providers may require renumbering as a condition of
   connectivity.

   Any organization which anticipates having external connectivity is
   encouraged to apply for a globally unique IP address.  Globally
   unique addresses are necessary to differentiate between destinations
   on the Internet.  One must understand, however, that the globally



Gerich                       Informational