RFC 1715 (rfc1715) - Page 1 of 4

The H Ratio for Address Assignment Efficiency

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Network Working Group                                         C. Huitema
Request for Comments:  1715                                        INRIA
Category: Informational                                    November 1994


             The H Ratio for Address Assignment Efficiency

Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  This memo
   does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of
   this memo is unlimited.

Abstract

   This document was submitted to the IETF IPng area in response to RFC
   1550.  Publication of this document does not imply acceptance by the
   IPng area of any ideas expressed within.  Comments should be
   submitted to the author and/or the  mailing
   list.

Table of Contents

   1.   Efficiency of address assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
   2.   Estimating reasonable values for the ratio H . . . . . . . . 2
   3.   Evaluating proposed address plans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   4.   Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
   5.   Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1. Efficiency of address assignment

   A substantial part of the "IPng" debate was devoted to the choice of
   an address size. A recurring concept was that of "assignment
   efficiency", which most people involved in the discussion expressed
   as a the ratio of the effective number of systems in the network over
   the theoretical maximum. For example, the 32 bits IP addressing plan
   could in theory number over 7 billions of systems; as of today, we
   have about 3.5 millions of addresses reported in the DNS, which would
   translate in an efficiency of 0.05%.












Huitema
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