Clean Ranges

Checking that an IPv4 range is ready for sale is just like checking if a house is ready for sale. 

You need to make sure that the seller is allowed to sell the house, ie they have proper/legal title, on the other side, check that the buyer can purchase the house and you need to check that the house is a safe and sound investment.

Checking out a house is tangible, you can pay inspectors to verify that the house has a solid structure and foundation.

 

This is very similar to the sale of an IPv4 range, but IPv4 is intangible. Before the start of an IPv4 transfer the seller needs to prove they can transfer the range, the buyer needs to be able to prove they can receive the range and the range needs to be ready for sale. For an IPv4 to be ready for sale we check that it is unlisted and that it is clean. This is the same as checking if a house is ready for sale.

 

What makes a range ready to sell?

Before someone buys a house they have a long list of things that need to be checked about the house. Before an IPv4 range can be sold there are two main things we check about the range. There are a few things that we look for in a range but these are the two most important criteria.

The range needs to be unlisted and it needs to be clean.

 

What does it mean for an IPv4 range to be unlisted?

Before a range can be sold it needs to be no longer advertised on the BGP table which means that it’s no longer advertised under the buyer’s ASN. We will still be able to see that the range is owned by the buyer but it wont be on the global routing tables.

 

What does it mean for an IPv4 range to be clean?

Before an IPv4 range can be sold it needs to be clean. Having a clean range means that it isn’t listed on any black/block-lists. This can often happen if the range has been used on spam email servers for example. If a range is listed on black/block-lists it will affect the use of a range moving forward. If an organisation uses blacklisted IPv4 it can lead to blocked emails, whoever uses the ranges may not be able to access certain services and it may possibly be blocked by various cyber security solutions.

 

How does v4Jam ensure they only list clean ranges?

v4Jam runs checks through a few different providers to ensure the readiness of the range for sale. We first check that the iPv4 range is unlisted, this isn’t a disqualifier, however, the range will need to be unlisted from the BGP tables before it can be transferred.

We will then check the routing history of the range and if it is on any blacklists. If it is on any blacklists we can work with the seller to get it unlisted, i.e. clean, before we advertise that it is ready for sale.