Summary

  • Vesna Manojlovic’s 2010 IPv6 RIPEness work scored LIRs on four observable steps: IPv6 space, RIS visibility, a route6 object and reverse DNS. Only 8% of RIPE-region LIRs earned all four in her April 2010 snapshot.
  • The scorecard guided RIPE NCC training and made four-star recognition public. Manojlovic asked for a fifth star based on real reachability; today RIPE NCC says that star requires observed IPv6 use above a threshold.

A star chart for the unromantic parts of IPv6

The word deployment can hide a warehouse of jobs. An address allocation is paperwork. A route announcement reaches the outside world. A route6 object records policy in the RIPE Database. Reverse DNS is another piece of operational housekeeping. In 2010, Vesna Manojlovic put those four jobs on a star chart for local Internet registries. The cheerful graphic had a practical purpose: it showed RIPE NCC where its IPv6 training might need to begin.

Her April 2010 account measured LIRs across the RIPE NCC service region. An IPv6 allocation or provider-independent assignment won the first star. Visibility in RIPE’s Routing Information Service, a registered route6 object and reverse-DNS delegation supplied the others. In that snapshot, 27% had received IPv6 space, while 8% had all four stars. Those were percentages of registries in April 2010; they were never a count of people online.

The method made a country map too. Manojlovic assigned each LIR a home country from its Reg-ID, while noting that its service could operate elsewhere. Slovenia stood out: 67% of its LIRs had at least one star and 25% had four, eight of 34 organisations. That pattern helped RIPE NCC adjust course material by location. The score became an address book for training, not merely a podium for winners.

Manojlovic identified the chart’s blind spots herself. RIS might miss a prefix visible to other peers. A working IPv6 service need not have a route6 object or reverse DNS. An LIR with four stars might still lack a functioning service; one with a single star might have one. The score captured visible preparation, and her own explanation kept the chart from pretending to be a complete network test.

Then came the fifth star. Should RIPE test a published “pingable” address? That could invite unwanted traffic. Should it watch for IPv6 clients connecting to ripe.net? That would miss customers who never visit. In her August 2010 follow-up, she put those objections on the table. The current RIPE NCC service describes a fifth star based on measured IPv6 use above a threshold, updated monthly; the first four indicators refresh daily.

A public four-star list and even a T-shirt for early achievers made the system conspicuous. The real craft was deciding what a star could honestly say. Manojlovic made preparation visible, used the gaps to shape education, and kept actual traffic on the agenda. Gold stars can start a conversation. Packets finish it.

RIPE originals