Provider Independent Address Space

Provider Independent Address Space (PI address space) are blocks of Internet protocol addresses that are assigned directly to an end user by a Regional Internet Registry (RIR) without being dependent on an Internet service provider for address assignment .

This enables the owner to change the service provider without having to change the assigned IP addresses, or even to be able to use several service providers at the same time in a multihoming configuration. On the other hand, this increases the granularity of the address spaces, since subscriber networks are not yet combined into large address ranges ( PA address space ) by Internet service providers . This causes problems with the routing of the individual address areas, as described in Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR), since it cannot be guaranteed that a small PI address area (i.e. usually a network with a prefix length greater than 24) in all parts of the Internet is routed.

PI address space for IPv4 is no longer available , at least for Germany, from the responsible registration authority RIPE .

Web links

• RIPE NCC :
  • IPv6 Provider Independent (PI) Assignments
  • Note from RIPE regarding PA vs. PI ( Memento from March 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Independent Resources. RIPE, September 30, 2016, accessed May 10, 2017 .