RIPE NCC Atlas

RIPE NCC Atlas
Name	RIPE NCC Atlas
Developer	RIPE Network Coordination Centre
Released	2010
Platform	Internet measurement infrastructure

RIPE NCC Atlas

RIPE NCC Atlas is a distributed Internet measurement platform operated by the RIPE Network Coordination Centre. The system provides active measurement probes and anchors across multiple countries to collect latency, routing, reachability, and performance data supporting network research, operational troubleshooting, and policy analysis. It integrates with regional Internet registries, research projects, and operational tools to furnish longitudinal datasets for academics, operators, and regulators.

Overview

Atlas was created to provide a federated measurement fabric linking probes and anchors operated by volunteers, network operators, and institutions such as European Commission-funded research projects and academic partners like Delft University of Technology and Technical University of Berlin. The platform complements initiatives by organizations such as Internet Society, IETF, ISOC chapters, and national research and education networks like GÉANT, enabling cross-border studies that inform bodies including European Union agencies and national regulators. Atlas data supports analyses referenced in publications from ACM, IEEE, and conferences such as SIGCOMM and USENIX.

Architecture and Components

The architecture comprises small measurement devices ("probes"), larger measurement nodes ("anchors"), a central control and storage infrastructure run by RIPE NCC, and user-facing services including a web interface and programmatic APIs. Probes use embedded hardware platforms similar to devices from vendors that support open firmware used by communities like OpenWrt and interact with time-synchronization sources such as NTP and platforms like GPS. Anchors provide higher-capacity measurements and often co-locate with Internet exchange points such as DE-CIX, LINX, and AMS-IX or with research sites like CERN. Control-plane components interface with authentication and identity providers and align with operational datasets from BGP routing collectors including projects by RouteViews and RIPE NCC Routing Information Service.

Measurement Types and Methodology

Atlas implements active probing measurements such as ICMP and UDP ping, traceroute (including Paris traceroute variants used in studies cited at IMC), DNS measurements (querying resolvers and authoritative servers), HTTP(S) checks, NTP measurements, and measurements of TCP handshake latency and packet loss. Methodologies reference measurement best practices promulgated by bodies like IETF working groups and research literature from ACM SIGCOMM and IEEE INFOCOM. Measurement scheduling considers sampling theory and statistical techniques used in network measurement research, aligning with approaches used by projects like CAIDA and M-Lab for reproducibility and bias mitigation.

Deployment and Participation

Probe deployment is volunteer-driven and includes contributions from network operators, academic labs, and community members across regions including Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa. Anchor deployment often involves collaboration with Internet exchange operators and research networks such as SURFnet and RENATER, and partnerships with national regulators or ministries of infrastructure in some countries. Participation governance involves agreements with hosting organizations and coordination with registry activities conducted by RIPE NCC and other regional Internet registries like ARIN, APNIC, and LACNIC.

Data Access and APIs

Atlas exposes measurement results and metadata through programmatic APIs and downloadable datasets used by researchers, network operators, and intergovernmental entities. APIs support querying measurements, fetching raw traceroute output, and aggregating time-series metrics; they are used by tools developed in ecosystems around Python libraries, Grafana dashboards, and command-line utilities used by engineers at companies like Cisco, Juniper Networks, and research groups at ETH Zurich. Data consumers integrate Atlas outputs with routing datasets from BGPmon and traffic analysis from projects like CAIDA.

Use Cases and Impact

Atlas enables troubleshooting of outages affecting critical infrastructure such as content delivery networks operated by firms like Akamai and Cloudflare, performance studies of cloud providers including Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform, and research into censorship and reachability exemplified by studies involving Citizen Lab. The platform has informed policy discussions in forums such as European Commission telecom consultations and has been cited in academic work presented at SIGCOMM, IMC, and USENIX conferences. Operational teams at IXPs, content providers, and national CERTs leverage Atlas data for incident response and capacity planning.

Privacy, Security, and Governance

Privacy practices balance measurement utility with user and host privacy, informed by regulatory frameworks such as GDPR and institutional review processes at universities including University of Cambridge and University of Oxford. Security considerations address probe hardening, access controls, and abuse mitigation in collaboration with CERT communities such as FIRST and national CERTs. Governance draws on RIPE NCC policy processes and community input from mailing lists and meetings attended by stakeholders from Internet Society, regional registries, and operator communities. Operational transparency is maintained through published measurement manifests and community consultations analogous to practices in research infrastructures like GÉANT and ESnet.

Category:Internet measurement