RFC 1916 (rfc1916) - Page 2 of 8

Enterprise Renumbering: Experience and Information Solicitation

RFC 1916          Enterprise Renumbering Solicitation      February 1996


1. Introduction

   There are immediate and increasingly severe requirements to renumber
   both small and large-scale networks. The Procedures for
   Internet/Enterprise Renumbering (PIER) working group in the IETF
   urgently requests specific input for producing concrete guidance for
   the renumbering task as quickly as possible.  As part of collecting
   such information, the PIER working group therefore is soliciting
   input from people and organizations with experience in changing the
   IP addresses of enterprise networks or in making major changes in the
   subnetting of existing networks. We are especially interested in
   actual case studies -- that is, accounts describing what was actually
   done to renumber one or more networks.  Information is also solicited
   on specific tools used in the process, and on areas in which tools
   were needed but not available.  Because applications that use IP
   addresses directly in their configuration or security mechanisms pose
   specific difficulties and coordination issues for renumbering, a
   catalogue of such applications is being compiled.

   All interested parties are invited to submit material in any of these
   areas:

   A) Accounts of the experience of renumbering networks:
   -- Retrospective reports on renumbering efforts.
   -- Journals or running accounts of a renumbering effort, written
      while the task is underway.

   B) Information on tools to help renumbering:
   -- Descriptions of tools used, whether commercial, freeware, or ad
      hoc (such as perl scripts).
   -- Descriptions of specific needs where a tool could clearly have
      helped, but none was found.

   C) Information on applications using embedded IP addresses:
   -- Software applications that use embedded IP addresses for security
      keys, authentication, or any other "inappropriate" purposes.
   -- Hardware devices whose IP addresses are hardcoded into the
      hardware design (and so may require extensive time lags to
      retool).
   -- Both software and hardware whose vendors are no longer in business
      and that may require replacement or specialized solutions.

   The focus of this solicitation is on experience with renumbering that
   has been done or is now underway in IPv4 networks, and not on future
   changes to protocols or environments that may eventually be useful.
   We are especially concerned with the most common situation faced
   today: single-homed networks that are not transit providers. However,
   experience with renumbering more complex environments is also



Berkowitz, et al             Informational