On 2006-07-30 23:27:23 +0100, "Doctor Drivel" said:


"Steve Firth" fresh in from kicking **** wrote
in message ...


Are so monumentally stupid that
you can't understand what an IP address is?

I do in fact. And I know they are allocated dynamically and that
service and backbone providers may have the same blocks of addresses.
Many service providers may use the same backbone provider and all come
out at the same hub.

No you don't.

Here's another demonstration of lack of knowledge and understanding.

- IP addresses *may* be allocated to end users dynamically. They
*may* be assigned statically. It depends on the infrastructure of the
ISP and the agreement between the ISP and end user. Typically dynamic
public IP addressing, where it is used is for entry level ISP packages
for a single computer. For customers needing to run fixed servers and
needing multiple addresses, it is usual to use statically allocated
addressing.

- Service and backbone providers do not have the same address spaces
for infrastructure that needs to be reachable on the public internet.
They may use private address space according to RFC1918, but that is
deliberately not routable on the internet and would be used for their
internal infrastructure - e.g. for management.

- IP address blocks are allocated by Regional Internet Registries (e.g.
RIPE, ARIN, APNIC...) to Local Internet Registries (often ISPs) who are
then responsible for their distribution.

- Any ISP worth using does not just have one backbone provider, he will
have several for reasons of resilience and differing commercial terms.
He will also make sure that his peering connections are in different
geographical locations. The major backbone providers certainly make
sure that they have many points of presence. So, no, all don't "come
out at the same hub".