[ppml] Proposed Policy: IPv4 Countdown

[michael.dillon at bt.com]

> I would assume as a given that any organization that has a large
> assignment, or series of assignments, is going to find it easier to
> merely continue to pay the bill then to go to the trouble of 
> inventorying
> what they really are using.  

I would assume as a given that any org with a large allocation is going
to be using one of the many commercial IP Address Management systems or
one of the many open-source IP Address Management systems or some
home-grown application to INVENTORY the addresses that they are using.
Anyone who has ever filed an application for an additional ISP
allocation knows one reason why these inventory systems exist. 

Of course the other reason is that operators need to keep track, not
only of high level allocations, but also PoP level, customer level, and
device level allocations in the network. I need to know that switch X in
PoP Y has 32 addresses assigned so that my capacity management systems
can report when we may need to assign more addresses to it to allow
adding additional edge routers to the PoP. Most network operators have
to apply roughly the same processes to managing spare addresses as they
apply to managing spare router slots, unused router interface cards,
spare switch ports, unused patch cables, spare bandwidth on intercity
circuits, spare bandwidth on corporate customer access lines, and many
other things. 

--Michael Dillon