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
