Editing MycoTaxa:Village pump (technical)/Archive 1 (section)

== Allocated portable IPs ==

Can someone clarify (with certainty) the meaning of "allocated portable" in terms of IP status? It's relevant to some blocks in [[Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets/Lahiru k (2nd)|this sockpuppet report]]. The Whois data is [http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/whois.ch?domain=222.165.157.129 here]. Thank you!--[[User:Chaser|chaser]] - [[User_talk:Chaser|t]] 08:48, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
:"Allocated portable" simply means that the address block was allocated directly by the national registry service, in this case APNIC, and is, thus, provider-independent. This means that the "owner" of the IP address can transfer it from one provider to another, as opposed to the typical model where IP addresses are "borrowed" from service providers and may only be used with that provider. The primary reason for acquiring portable IP addresses is to maintain the established reputation of an IP address when changing providers, and to ensure the flexibility to change providers without having to give up former addresses. I'm not sure, however, how this would play any role in determining whether two users are sock puppets of another, but that's your definition as requested :) [[User:AmiDaniel|AmiDaniel]] ([[User talk:AmiDaniel|talk]]) 15:45, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
::Then allocated portable addresses tend to be ''more'' static than the average static IP?--[[User:Chaser|chaser]] - [[User_talk:Chaser|t]] 20:49, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

:::Hmmm .. I certainly wouldn't jump to that conclusion, though I've not really thought about it in this sense. Whether an IP is "static" or "dynamic" is determined by the way that a service provider assigns addresses to subscribers, not by the way that the IP addresses are allocated by the IANA. All that "portable" means is that the IP address or block can be (not has been or will be!) transferred from one provider to another, and, in particular, the address cannot be resolved by provider due to this nature. What is usually (at least AFAIK) the case with portable IP addresses is that one company or provider subleases portable IP addresses from a higher-up provider with the condition that the subleasing company can maintain the same IP addresses when transfering to alternative providers if need be. Due to the expense, this is typically only done in regions with very competitive ISP markets (such as is certainly the case in many of the regions that APNIC services). The subleasing company will then provide connectivity to its customers through these IP addresses based upon its own internal allocation scheme--some may be provided to individuals, companies, servers statically, others may be used dynamically by one or many of its customers. For the most part, no '''individual''' will be the custodian of a single portable address. I would actually say that, quite on the contrary of being static, most portable IP addresses are likely ''shared'' by multiple individuals or entities, though this is also by no means compulsory. In short, you're far, far more likely to find out the exact nature of how this IP address is used by contacting Sri Lanka Telelcom than you are by asking me :) [[User:AmiDaniel|AmiDaniel]] ([[User talk:AmiDaniel|talk]]) 19:11, 17 October 2007 (UTC)
::::Thanks for your very helpful and informative answers, Amidaniel. I've learned a lot from this exchange.--[[User:Chaser|chaser]] - [[User_talk:Chaser|t]] 20:56, 17 October 2007 (UTC)
:::::Glad to help :) [[User:AmiDaniel|AmiDaniel]] ([[User talk:AmiDaniel|talk]]) 03:24, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

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