Virtual WebHosting Policy Rewording

[Stephen Elliott]

I am glad to see that there is some movement on this.  I agree with the
wording of this, but I would like to see something else; guidelines for
proper implementation.  One of the big problems with changes like this
is that in the past ARIN has kicked out the broad strokes of the policy,
but individual ISP's then had to craft policies around the framework
provided by ARIN.  This is ok in most circumstances, the ISP's for the
most part produce policies that are inline with ARIN and everyone is
happy.  Yet some ISP's take tend to take it upon themselves to go the
extra mile and prohibit practices that are completely inline with the
ARIN policies, and then blame ARIN for this, saying it is not them, it
is ARIN.  What I would suggest is a document that outlines what this
really means and how policies should be written at ISP's and others
responsible for distributing IP's.  I will gladly volunteer to help out
with a draft that can be read by the group and modify it based on
feedback.  It is my hope that we as a group can come up with a policy
that is used industry wide and applied equally... well I can hope can't
I!
-Stephen

Bill Darte wrote:
> 
> After consideration of suggested changes in the wording associated with the
> the Virtual Web Hosting policy voiced on mail lists and the ARIN meetings of
> April, the Advisory Council suggests the following slight change in wording.
> 
> Note that the AC considers this a policy to be recomemended to the Board of
> Trustees after this 'final call' for input.  It requires ISPs to provide
> technical justification for IP address space allocations to be used for
> IP-based web hosting and ARIN Registration Services staff to collect this
> information.  Over time this information will be aggregated in a fashion
> which elimates specific customer/vendor references, and used by ARIN and
> members to review this policy for change.
> 
> Bill Darte
> Advisory Council
> 
> 
> ARIN subscription holders who provide virtual webhosting services to their
> customers, and organizations that request new address space from ARIN, are
> strongly encouraged to employ a name-based system of webhosting -- a
> current best practice method which enables multiple domains to be hosted
> by a single IP address. In contrast, an IP-based system requires a
> distinct IP number for each domain, which, where not required for the
> technical basis of services offered, is an inefficient use of addresses.
> Widespread use of the name-based system will significantly reduce the
> number of addresses needed for webhosting and will help to conserve the
> limited supply of available address space.
> 
> POLICY
> 
> When an ISP submits a request for IP address space to be used for IP-based
> webhosting, they will supply technical justification for this practice. ARIN
> will collect this data for review of the policy in light of operational
> experience.

-- 
Stephen Elliott                 Harrison & Troxell
Systems & Networking Manager    2 Faneuil Hall Marketplace
Systems & Networking Group      Boston, Ma 02109
(617)227-0494 Phone             (617)720-3918 Fax