Dear reader, This questionnaire is sent to you by the TROTS project team. This team, consisting of students from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, is currently looking at the RIPE database and hopes to gain some information on how users employ this database, and on what their attitude towards this database is. We would appreciate it if you could find time to sit down for a moment and fill in the questions that are in this questionnaire. The questions are set up in such a way that it doesn't take much time to answer them. The outcome of our project might help the RIPE NCC together with the RIPE Database Working Group to make a better database and improve the quality of its services. Thank you in advance, The TROTS project team. INSTRUCTIONS: If you find brackets under a question (i.e. [ ]), you can fill in a 'x' for the appropriate answer (i.e. [x]). If you find a word, followed by a semicolon (i.e. 'answer:'), you can write down your answer after it. (i.e. 'answer: this is my answer') We would appreciate it if we receive your reply before Wednesday, November 13th 1996. ========================= THE QUESTIONS ========================= -> SECTION I: INTRODUCTION 1. Who are you? (optional) Company name: Name: 2. What is your function? (optional) [ ] Network administrator [ ] Network technician [ ] Other, namely: 3. How do you use the database? [ ] for updates and queries. -> GOTO Section II [ ] only for queries. -> GOTO Section III [ ] I do not use it. -> As a last question: can you tell us why not? Answer: -> SECTION II: UPDATES 1. What kind of updates do you perform? [ ] in the assignment registry [ ] in the routing registry [ ] both 2. How do you grade making updates by the e-mail interface in the database? [ ] easy [ ] not so easy [ ] indifferent [ ] not so hard [ ] hard 3. Do you know what templates stand for and how to use them? [ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] I do not know what is meant by this question 4. How do you fill in the templates? (you can fill in more than one answer) [ ] by hand [ ] by applications (which: ) [ ] by applications that I wrote myself (for what: ) 5. When changing an object, do you always delete older objects or objects that are not referenced anymore? If not, can you tell us why? [ ] Yes [ ] No, because [ ] I have no time [ ] it is too much of a hassle [ ] do not know how [ ] other: 6. Do you always update the database when the facts change? If not, can you tell us why? [ ] Yes [ ] No, because [ ] I have no time [ ] too much of a hassle [ ] do not always know that facts have changed [ ] other: 7. Are there any routing policies which you would like to adopt, but cannot represent in the database? If so, which ones? [ ] No [ ] Yes, namely: 8. Can you give us an indication on how many updates you perform per month? [ ] less than 10 [ ] 10 - 50 [ ] 50 - 100 [ ] more than 100 -> SECTION III: QUERIES 1. How do you make queries? [ ] By using whois [ ] By using the RIPE tools (like prtraceroute) [ ] I run applications that make use of it (other than tools of RIPE) 2. What do you make queries for? [ ] trouble shooting [ ] making routing tables [ ] other, namely: 3. Do you ever encounter ambiguous/inconsistent data while making queries? If so, can you give us examples and a rate of how often this happens? [ ] No. [ ] Yes, namely: 4. Can you always find what you are looking for? [ ] Yes. [ ] No -> Can you give examples of what you could not find? Examples: 5. Do you miss any data that you would like to see added? If so, can you state which? [ ] No. [ ] Yes, namely: -> SECTION IV: GENERAL 1. How useful do you consider the database? [ ] I could not live without it. [ ] It is a nice feature. [ ] It's not very useful. 2. How would you grade the overall quality of the database on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the best) ? [ ] 1 [ ] 2 [ ] 3 [ ] 4 [ ] 5 3. Do you have any remarks you want to add? Remarks: