Gordan:
On Thursday 12/28 you enclosed with the text below:
May I ask: Is AS690 the Autonomus System number for ANS? I understand
indeed that the PRDB was ANS specific but how exactly did that make the
Ripe Database a better format? If it was a better format, it couldn't be
used because the PRDB had components that were not transferrable to
RIPE? Are you saying that to transfer the ANS database into RIPE format
would have taken a very sizable number of person months?
To help you understand the PRDB, I offer some historical
information from an engineer's perspective:
The concepts and the some of the code for the PRDB database system
predate even ANS's creation. The PRDB concepts come from
the early days of the NSFNET and trying to run that specific network.
The multiple ISP/NSP world has come upon the Internet to replace
the NSFNET. This change was requested by some people to provide
a fair marketplace in the Internet.
The routing registration shift from PRDB to RIPE/IRR
format reflects a shift in the Internet reality, not an
ANS database specific project. The effort to keep the NSFNET
service current was an engineering effort over years.
We moved from 1/3 T1 to T1 to T3. Our databases also migrated
implementations and service capabilities. The PRDB was the
third in a series of the databases. RIPE could be considered
the fourth.
I hope this has helped fill in some history around Curtis's comments.
Sue Hares
Merit