On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 19:54, Brian Kantor <Brian@ucsd.edu> wrote:
> On Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:19:31 -0800, David Josephson WA6NMF <wa6nmf@josephson.com> wrote:
>
>>I am puzzled that we want to assign 44-net addresses one by one as shown
>>in amprhosts rather than as subnets. Perhaps there is a historical
>>reason for that. The routing table could get to be very large (we can hope!)
>
> Subnetting is reasonable to do but we still have to assign addresses in
> those subnets one at a time in order to get DNS entries for them and to
> enable them in the Internet ingress filter.
>
> The division of the AMPRNet space into the existing blocks of addresses
> was primarily for administrative convenience, not as a mandated subnetting
> scheme.
>
> Subnets should probably track routers/gateways; that is, each
> router/gateway should have a small subnet associated with it.  That would
> help to keep the routing table at a reasonable size.  Since routers often
> serve a specific geographical area, having regional subnets could be a fairly
> good way to assign addresses.
>
> The hard question is what size region and what size subnet?
>
> The implication is that there will be a router for each region, which is
> what we've been doing in many places anyway.  Perhaps major cities is a
> reasonable way to divide an area into subnets.  But there are also flat
> networks which need only one router even though they span multiple cities.
>
> Ideas?
>        - Brian

Dynamic DNS to update amprgw's filter.

We only need the filter for ingress to Net44,  we could use "Established" and "Related" IPTABLES for egress.

DHCP for mobile users (those moving between access points).

We already have "region" subnets, e.g. 44.x.0.0/17 blocks already allocated to coordinators.  That means the inter region routing tables can be relatively small.  Within the region subnetting and even sub-subnet can performed based on local need. 

I wrote this in late January and you see more comments in the thread starting at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/STARnetDigital/message/209


One of the uses I foresee for  STARnet Digital is for it to support "VPNs" for D-STAR Digital Data.  Currently, the D-STAR frame addresses one and only one destination.  The UR is either set to the gateway for NATing out to the Internet, or it is set to the call of a remote system.

If the UR were to be set to STARnet Digital group, then each frame could be relayed back out to each terminal in the VPN/Group.  This still needs to be tested and probably refined.

I think the Net-44 address space could be the unifying point for IP based amateur communications.  The NxN  
text tables being distributed now to IPIP tunnel pockets of activity doesn't scale well and uses a format designed around a specific application.  I have been thinking, instead we should build a network around regional routers that each support one  44.x.x.x/16 address space (44.0-255.x.x) -- these could exist in a VPN (maybe LT2P) creating tunnels either to each other or through 1 or more continental/country routers.  

In turn, these 256 POP routers, would support up to 256+ local networks (44.x.x.x/24), which in turn could distribute out to progressively smaller and smaller CIDR address spaces.

When AMPRNET was created, the available hardware was either severely limited or financially unreachable for a hobby pursuit.  Now a US$40 router (http://routerboard.com/RB750 IPV4, IPV6, VPN, Tunnels, MPLS) can be pressed into service to provide these services (http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:License#License_Levels) for any local jump off point to RF (even to a mesh or PTP high speed microwave link). The core routers can be had in the US$350 range (http://routerboard.com/RB1200).   There are a number of hams that own or have access to high bandwidth enabled data centers to house core and regional routers. 

Additionally, with a little creativity we could  build a special DHCP that would examine the D-STAR, AX.25, or ??? frames to assign a Dynamic DNS address to each station (assuming amateur-relay.net as the domain, could beampr.org):
Fixed stations and servers likely would have static IPs, but mobile stations, say D-STAR DD units moving from repeater/access point to repeater/access point could release and renew LAN IP addresses using DHCP.

A STARnet Digital server could be modified to include a DHCP lease block for stations in the group/VPN, so mobile D-STAR stations would retain the same DNS entries moving from one repeater/access point to another.

As the owner of the STARnetDigital Yahoo! forum, I invite anyone interested in this topic to reply to the thread there.

John D. Hays
K7VE
PO Box 1223, Edmonds, WA 98020-1223