RFC 1814 (rfc1814) - Page 2 of 3
Unique Addresses are Good
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
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