APNIC's Director General, Paul Wilson, gives an outline on the Internet, how it works, and how it is governed.

1. How the Internet works
… and why!
Asia Pacific Internet Leadership Program
Delhi
3 August 2014

2. Internet Fundamentals
• What is the Internet?
• Layers and standards
• Internet Addressing
• … Naming
• … Governance
• … Issues and Challenges

3. What is the Internet?
• “A network of networks”
– … using IP, the Internet Protocol?
• A collection of useful online applications
– … connected by competing service providers?
• A platform for innovation
– … and for social and economic development?
• A borderless “Cyberspace”
– … inhabited by free-roaming netizens?
• A critical global infrastructure
– … and enabler of e-commerce, e-governance, e-citizenship… ?

4. How did we get here…
• Initially, research project (70-80s)
– Open, cooperative, public domain
– Highly collaborative environment
– “Rough consensus and running code”
• Then, product of liberalisation (90s)
– Also, catalyst for deregulation
– Highly competitive environment
– Still free to join and use
• Now, public utility and critical infrastructure
(2000 and beyond)
– Internet governance (re-regulation?) is a recent afterthought
4

5. 5
– and many more: Novell, Microsoft etc etc etc
• User choices determined by vendor
• Proprietary systems
• Limited interconnection
Before the Internet…
Applications
Network
OS
Hardware
Applications
Network
OS
Hardware
Applications
Network
OS
Hardware

6. So, Why is the Internet?
• Global
– “End-to-End”
– Uniform
• “Dumb”
– Lightweight and efficient
– Intelligence at the edges, in applications and devices
• Neutral
– By default
• Open
– No/Low barrier to entry
– Free standards
– Multistakeholder governance (MOTL)

7. Layers
and
Standards

8. Layers – in the telephone network
Wires
Exchanges
Devices

9. Layers – according to ISO OSI
7: Application
6: Presentation
5: Session
4: Transport
3: Network
2: Link
1: Physical

10. Layers – in practice
Phone/Fax/SMS
TV/VOD/conf
“The Internet”
Applications
Fixed, Dialup/ISDN
Mobile/2G
Cable/ADSL
Infrastructure Voice
Video
Data
Network

11. Layers – in the Internet
11
Voice, email, IM
Video, TV, conf
WWW, +++
DNS
Applications
802.11x/WiMax
Mobile/4G/LTE
Cable/xDSLx
FTTH, ETTH
Infrastructure
Internet
Network

12. So, what is a standard?
• Standards operate at different levels of the protocol stack
– In fact they define the protocol stack
• A standard (or protocol) is simply an agreement
– among members of a community,
– on a set of guidelines or rules,
– which allow cooperation (interoperability),
– and often, agreed by a recognised standards body such as ISO, ITU,
W3C or IETF.
• An open standard is a standard which is
– Developed through open and accessible processes
– Freely accessible, implementable and usable
– Available without barriers such as licenses and fees.
– … “ideally”, at least.
12

13. 13
Communications standards
Must agree on:
language,
medium…
The Internet
Telco
Telco
Telco
Telco
ISP ISP
ISP
DNS
RIR
DNS
Let’s use the
Internet!
?

14. More layers…

15. Internet
Addresses

16. What’s an IP Address?
• The fundamental Internet address
– Every address must be unique within the network
– Every device must have an address
– Every network must have a block (or more) or addresses
• A finite “Common Resource”
– Managed in the common interest
– According to openly-defined policies
• Please learn to distinguish:
– Domain names (eg rigf.asia)
– Email addresses (eg pwilson@apnic.net)
– and IP and Intellectual Property

17. IP Addresses in use…
Traffic
202.12.29.0/24
The Internet
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
202.12.29.0/24
…
Announce
202.12.29.0/24 202.12.29.0/24
R

18. Internet Address Routing
The Internet
Net
Net
Net
Net
Net
Net
Net
Net
Net
Net
Net
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table

19. Global Routing Table – IPv4
http://bgp.potaroo.net/as1221/bgp-active.html

20. Where do IP Addresses come from?
Definition
Allocation
Allocation
Assignment End
user
RIRs

21. Regional Internet Registries

22. Issues

23. IPv4 vs IPv6
• IPv4
– 32-bit* number: 232 = ~4 billion addresses
– Example: 202.12.29.142
– Existing supply is very nearly exhausted
• IPv6
– 128-bit* number: 2128 = 340 billion billion billion billion
– Example: FE38:DCE3:124C:C1A2:BA03:6735:EF1C:683D
– Existing supply should/must last for many decades
• The transition
– Underway since 2000
– Much slower than expected
– Not really necessary while IPv4 addresses available
* bit = binary digit

24. Why IPv6?
• IPv4 address supply is exhausted
– New networks require addresses
– Stop-gap measures are damaging
• The Internet is growing fast
– Broadband, mobile, Internet of Things
• IPv6 is the only viable option we have now
– Much larger address space than IPv4
– Enable sustainable growth of the Internet
– Support the emergence of new technologies

25. IPv4 exhaustion
http://www.potaroo.net/tools/ipv4/

26. Private addresses and NAT
10.0.0.1 ..2 ..3 ..4
ISP
202.12.29.0/24
The Internet
202.12.29.1 … .2 … .3 … .4
*AKA home router, hotspot, etc
NAT*
202.12.29.32

27. Private addresses and NAT
Internet
10.0.0.202
202.12.29.32
NAT
? Extn 202
Phone
Network
02 6262 9898
PABX

28. IPv6 Deployment (Google)
https://www.google.com/intl/en/ipv6/statistics.html

29. Global Routing Table – IPv6
http://bgp.potaroo.net/v6/as2.0/

30. IPv6 readiness
http://6lab.cisco.com/stats/index.php

31. Global IPv6 deployment leaders
ASN Entity Economy IPv6
preferred
rate
22394 Cellco Verizon Wireless US 63.39
6848 Telenet N.V BE 45.73
10091 StarHub Cable Vision Ltd SG 43.48
18126 CTCX Chubu Telecommunications Company; Inc. JP 37.72
31334 Kabel Deutschland Vertrieb und Service GmbH DE 34.78
2516 KDDI KDDI CORPORATION JP 30.29
3303 Swisscom Ltd CH 27.00
29562 Kable BW GmbH DE 25.88
55430 STARHUBINTERNET-AS-NGNBN Starhub Internet Pte Ltd SG 24.93
21928 T-Mobile USA US 24.81
41164 GET Norway NO 20.38
7018 AT&T US 20.36
12322 Free SAS FR 19.89
7922 Comcast Cable Communications US 19.83
4739 INTERNODE-AS Internode Pty Ltd AU 19.37
http://labs.apnic.net/ipv6-measurement/AS/ 24/06/2014

32. Internet Exchange Points
ISP
ISP
IXP $$$!
The Internet

33. Internet Exchange Points
ISP
ISP
The Internet
ISP
Local services
DNS root servers
Data centres etc
ISP
ISP
ISP

34. Names

35. 193.0.6.148
196.216.2.1
2001:42d0::200:2:1
192.149.252.75
2001:500:4:13::80
2001:13c7:7002:4000::10
202.12.29.211
2001:610:240:22::c100:68b
212.110.167.157
2001:41c8:20::19
192.0.32.7
2620:0:2d0:200::7
People like names…
nixi.in
rigf.asia
www.google.com
twitter.com
www.apnic.net
Intgovforum.org
www.isoc.org
www.icann.org

36. Domain Name System
• Converts domain names to IP addresses
– Like a phone book
– A “critical infrastructure service” on the Internet
– A specialised database service, essentially
• Highly distributed and reliable
– Distributed servers
– Distributed administration
– Distributed authority (through “delegation”)
– Redundancy/secondary services, caching etc
– Security deployment via DNSSEC

37. Using the DNS
The Internet
www.apnic.net
www.apnic.net?
202.12.29.194
2001:dc0:2001:11::211
DNS
2001:0C00:8888:: 2001:dc0:2001:11::211

38. DNS name hierarchy
whois www www www www
.The “root”
net org com asia in… …TLDs
apnic iana …. rigf nixi
SLDs
www.rigf.asia.

39. Domain name resolution
.rigf.asia
server
.asia
server
www.edu.au
server
Root
server
198.41.0.4
www.rigf.asia?
“Ask 128.250.1.21”
“Ask 8.50.200.5”
“Ask 132.234.1.1”
“132.234.250.31”
“132.234.250.31”
www.rigf.asia?
Local
resolver
www.rigf.asia?
210.80.58.34
132.234.250.31
*All IP addresses are fabricated

40. What’s in a nameserver?
• Authority for a particular zone eg “rigf.asia”
• The “zonefile” for that zone
• Zonefile records including
– A: www = “203.12.45.91” (IPv4 address for this name)
– AAAA: www = “2001:FC03::203:EFEF” (IPv6 address)
– NS: www = “220.35.35.1” (delegation to another server)
• In real life, much more than this
– Caches of recent queries
– Secondary (backup) server configurations
– Configuration and tuning settings
– Many more record types
– Replication using the “anycast” technique

41. What’s in a root nameserver?
• The all-important “root zone file”
• Delegation records for all TLDs
– gTLDs such as: .com .org .asia etc
– ccTLDs such as: .in .us .cn .ch .tv etc
– IDN TLDs: .网络 (Wǎngluò for net) and .公司 (Gōngsī for com)
• Actually, there are 13 distinct root operations
– Most have a different operator
– Named A, B, C, … L and M
– Each can have multiple secondaries
– Each can have many “anycast” copies/clones/instances
– Now there are many hundreds of individual root servers globally

42. Authority in the DNS
• Root zone
– Managed by ICANN under USG authority
– New TLDs can be created under new ICANN framework
• TLDs – gTLDs and ccTLDs
– Authority is delegated technically by ICANN
– gTLDs to nonprofit and commercial Registry organisations
– ccTLDs to authorities specified (mainly) by National administrations
– Registry authorities may rely on technical service providers
• SLDs and below
– In general, under sole authority of the TLD
– Some have “open second level”
– Some have .com .edu .org etc; some have .co .ac .or etc

43. Internet
Governance

44. What is Internet Governance?
• Any aspect of the Internet which requires regulation,
coordination or oversight
– Cybercrime, security, spam, phishing, hacking
– Content regulation
– Commerce, competition, trade and taxation
– Intellectual property
– Development and education, capacity building
– Equity of access
– Technical standards and coordination
• None of these are completely new
– Most fall under existing governance systems

45. “Content Layer”
“Code Layer”
“Physical Layer”
DiploFoundation www.diplomacy.edu Lawrence Lessig www.lessig.org
Internet Governance

46. “The Internet tradition”
• For thirty years, the Internet and its coordination structures
have evolved hand-in-hand
– Open, bottom-up processes
• Successes recognised in WSIS
– “Internet Governance”
– “Multistakeholder Model”
– These things were discovered, not invented, by WSIS
• Internet Governance is now a critical issue
– “Multistakeholder” vs intergovernmental approaches
– But continuous improvement/evolution will continue
– Discussions will go on for many years…
46

47. Internet Governance Forum
• The multistakeholder model in action
– Open discussions that can help inform policy making on all aspects
of Internet governance
– “For decision makers not for decision making”
• Regional IGFs
– Delhi, August 2014
• Global IGFs
– Istanbul, September 2014
• National events too
– IN,BD, AU, NZ…
47

48. Internet technical coordination
• A.K.A. the “code layer” (Lessig)
• One aspect of Internet governance
–Internet standards development
–DNS administration
–DNS infrastructure coordination
–IP address and related resource management
• Includes activities of several types
–Administrative
–Operational
–Standards and technical policy
–Internet address management (RIRs)
48

49. Regional Internet Registries

50. RIR Policy Process
OPEN
TRANSPARENT‘BOTTOM UP’
Anyone can
participate
All processes documented
and freely available
Internet community proposes
and approves policy

51. OPEN
TRANSPARENT‘BOTTOM UP’
RIR Policy Process
Need
Discuss
ConsensusImplement
Evaluate

52. Other communities
• Technical standards
– Internet Engineering Task Force
– “RFC” series of documents
• Names
– Registries, Registrars, Business, Individual users
– GNSO, ccNSO (and other CCs)
• Numbers
– Number Resource Organisation (umbrella for RIRs)
– ASO for global policy coordination
• ICANN
– Umbrella for coordination of names and numbers (mostly names)

53. That’s all, folks!

54. Internet Fundamentals – Recap
• What is the Internet?
– Why is is successful?
– What are we taking for granted?
• Layers and Standards
– Essential concepts, from the cables to the politics
• Internet Addressing and Naming
– The critical technical resources of the Internet
– Technical factors must be understood
• Internet Governance
– Intrinsic to the the Internet’s success
– Will continue while the Internet keeps growing and changing!

55. Questions?
Thank you
dg@apnic.net