| Q: | How are these listings created? |
| A: | By automated fwhois queries of the 3 main official IP network databases (of www.arin.net, www.apnic.net and www.ripe.net), which give all data in text files - one file per 1/256 division of each class C block. I have written several PERL programs which reformat the data, numerically sort the networks and write the information as HTML files.
For ARIN, the commands take the form;
fwhois 'net j.i.*'@whois.arin.net >j.i
where j = class C block - 192, 196, 198, etc; i = 0 to 255.
This will therefore save all data in files named j.i. Complications arise because ARIN operates a 256 record limit; one may have to do, for example 'net 192.i.0*', 'net 192.i.1*', etc; occasionally even 'net 192.i.1*' exceeds the 256 limit , and one has to do 'net 192.i.10*', 'net 192.i.11*', etc, and then some merging of files is necessary.
For RIPE:
fwhois '-M -r j.i.0.0/16'@whois.ripe.net >j.i
where j = 193, 194, 195, 212, 213; i = 0 to 255. -M and -r are options to give the correct data format.
APNIC uses a similar command syntax; j = 202, 203, 210. |
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| Q: | Can I obtain a copy of your database? |
| A: | There is no database - the data on this site exists only as the web pages. You could either download them all using a web-whacker program, or contact ARIN, RIPE and APNIC to see if they supply a text file of their databases. |
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| Q: | How can I find more details about a network? |
| A: | Use the whois servers of ARIN (http://www.arin.net/whois/index.html) , RIPE (http://www.ripe.net/db/whois.html) or APNIC (http://www.apnic.net/apnic-bin/whois.pl). |
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| Q: | I want to change my network listing. |
| A: | You should address your enquiry to the appropriate organisation (RIPE, ARIN or APNIC), as they maintain IP network records. My site is merely a private venture, created by extracting and reorganising all the official data. If your listing changes in the official databases, it will change on this site when I next update it. |
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| Q: | I want information about acquiring a network; I have problems with my connectivity; how do I connect to the internet, etc. |
| A: | Don't ask me! Contact ARIN, RIPE and APNIC, or your local ISP. |
|
| Q: | Why is network x.y.z not listed? |
| A: | I update my site only every few months, so it does not always have records of the most recently-allocated networks. You can always check the current data using the whois function. |
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| Q: | What are the IP addresses reserved for internal use, for networks that do not require a connection to the internet? |
| A: | 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 (10/8 prefix)
172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 (172.16/12 prefix)
192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 (192.168/16 prefix) |
|
| Q: | How do I find convert between IP number and IP name, and vice versa? |
| A: | Use the 'nslookup' command - there are www implementations of it at http://www.netsys.com/nslookup.html and http://www.uia.ac.be/ds/nslookup.html, for example. |
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| Q: | Do you have any plans to make the site searchable? |
| A:: | I don't want to make it searchable, as would just duplicate the fuction of the arin, ripe and apnic databases, and their information is more complete in terms of details of network ownership, and updated more often. |