[Apologies for duplicates] Dear Colleagues, With the publication of RFC 5396, the IETF has standardised the representation of all Autonomous System (AS) Numbers in the ASPLAIN format. This covers both 16-bit and 32-bit AS Numbers. The previous ASDOT format is now obsolete. The RIPE NCC plans to start using the ASPLAIN format by the end of March 2009. From that time, any AS Numbers or references must be in the ASPLAIN format. The old ASDOT format will no longer be accepted in RIPE NCC services such as the LIR Portal and the RIPE Database. In order to ensure a smooth transition, any data in the RIPE Database containing an ASDOT AS Number will be converted by the RIPE NCC using the one-to-one mapping that exists between the two formats. Exact details of this conversion will be published closer to the actual date. The RIPE NCC has also provided a test database using the converted software and containing a copy of the RIPE Database. The AS Numbers in this copied data have been converted to ASPLAIN. For more details, see the earlier RIPE NCC announcement: http://www.ripe.net/ripe/maillists/archives/ncc-services-wg/2009/msg00014.ht... If you use AS Numbers internally, or with other tools that have not yet been updated, you may be interested in a conversion tool provided by APNIC. This tool converts ASDOT format AS Numbers to ASPLAIN and back. It can be downloaded from: http://www.apnic.net/cgi-bin/convert-asn.pl If you have any concerns about this matter, please write to <asn32@ripe.net
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Kind regards, Henk Uijterwaal Senior Project Manager, RIPE NCC