[db-wg] Whois IPv6 proxy status (was RIPE Whois Server version 3.2.0)

Gert,

Gert Doering wrote:
> 
> as there have been some IPv6 problems again today (connections over IPv6
> were greeted with "permission denied"):  what's the current state of IPv6
> integration into the RIPE Whois server?  Is it still done via Proxy, or
> is it properly integrated now?

Thanks for reporting the problem.  We noticed it ourselves, and are 
looking into it.  Looks like a mismatch of the configuration of our 
secondary server during an upgrade caused the problem.  We're looking 
into fixing that now.


As for the state of IPv6 integration...

We are still using the proxy.  We continue to get about 10000 WHOIS 
queries per day on IPv6, with the majority coming from a small number 
of addresses (about 0.5% of our queries).  I haven't done any further 
analysis since the last RIPE meeting (RIPE 45):

http://www.ripe.net/ripe/meetings/ripe-45/presentations/ripe45-db-whoisdb-update/page16.htm


I'd like to emphasize that the reason we chose to use a proxy is *not* 
because it was easier or faster to implement, or because we wanted to 
understand the technology better.  I talked a bit about the reasons in 
the presentation I gave at RIPE 44 when we introduced the proxy:

http://www.ripe.net/ripe/meetings/archive/ripe-44/presentations/ripe44-ipv6-v6wpd/page2.htm

The main point is that we currently use client IP address to limit the 
amount of personal data that a user can query.  This does not make 
sense in the IPv6 universe.

While using client IP to identify users is imperfect in an IPv4 world, 
it is even less meaningful in the IPv6 world.  We simply don't know 
how to protect the privacy of our users in the IPv6 world!  The main 
motivation for the proxy was to study access behaviour and how, if at 
all, we can effectively protect user's privacy.


 From the user point of view, the proxy should be identical to a 
"native" server.  When we fix our config, it transparent again!


One possibility that may address the client-identification issue is to 
move to a protocol that supports client authentication.  The CRISP 
protocol, currently in discussion in the IETF, promises to offer such 
a feature.  It is intended to be something that serves the same 
function as WHOIS, while fixing many of the limitations.

http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/crisp-charter.html


As I mentioned in the past, I am very eager to hear suggestions on how 
to deal with the privacy issue in IPv6!  Any real-world experience 
from IPv6 operators or developers would be appreciated.  We do have 
several months of logs now, so we can do some data mining to check 
theories.

-- 
Shane Kerr
RIPE NCC