RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) is a new protocol that improves on the legacy WHOIS protocol by standardizing query and response formats. It allows for querying via RESTful JSON responses rather than simple text-based formats. RDAP also enables features like querying redirection, multilingual content, and viewing historical records. APNIC has implemented an RDAP-based web client and application called WHOWAS. Future work includes a full-featured RDAP client, incorporating additional languages, and working with the IETF and others on further RDAP standards and adoption.

1. Registration Data Access
Protocol (RDAP)
Jake Flint

2. Introduction
• How APNIC’s database works
• Why improve whois?
• Where did RDAP come from?
• What can be built with RDAP?
• What RDAP-related work is APNIC doing?
2

3. APNIC database and the Internet Routing
Registry (IRR)
• APNIC Whois Database
 Two databases in one
• Public network management database
 Whois information about networks and contacts (legal entity, incident
response teams, admin/tech contacts)
• Routing Registry (RR)
 Contains routing information (routes, filters, peers and so forth)
 APNIC RR is part of the global IRR

4. whois at APNIC
4
registry
database
CLI
web UI
whois port 43
RPSL

5. whois command line
5
$ whois -h whois.apnic.net 210.17.9.242
% [whois.apnic.net]
% Whois data copyright terms http://www.apnic.net/db/dbcopyright.html
% Information related to '210.17.0.0 - 210.17.127.255'
% Abuse contact for '210.17.0.0 - 210.17.127.255' is 'ethanchen@taiwanmobile.com'
inetnum: 210.17.0.0 - 210.17.127.255
netname: TTN-TW
descr: Taiwan Telecommunication Network Services Co.,LTD.
descr: 110 , 8F , No 89 , Sung Jen RD , Taipei
country: TW
admin-c: IP11-AP
tech-c: IP11-AP
remarks: service provider
mnt-by: MAINT-TW-TWNIC
mnt-irt: IRT-TFN-TW
mnt-lower: MAINT-TTN-AP
status: ALLOCATED PORTABLE
last-modified: 2011-06-01T04:13:58Z
source: APNIC

6. whois www interface
6
HTML wrapper

7. Whois Protocol
• whois
 Query service on TCP port 43 (RFC 812, 1982)
 Very simple. Send query key, get response
 Query/Response formats not standardised
 Character sets not standardised
 If the queried server does not contain a record, it cannot redirect to a
server that can answer

8. APNIC (inetnum) ARIN (Net Range)
8

9. 9

10. History
• NICNAME/Whois (1982 rfc812, rfc3912)
• Rwhois (1994 rfc1714, 1997 rfc2167)
• IRIS/CRISP (2003-2009)
• WEIRDS working group (2012)
• RDAP (2015, rfc7480-7485)

11. RDAP Protocol
• Query: REST
 Allows for service differentiation for public or authorised users
 Rate limiting, public/privileged information sets
• Response: JSON
 JavaScript Object Notation
 Standardised text representation of structured data
 Easily used by JavaScript/HTML5, Java, Perl, Python…

12. RDAP Protocol
• Standardised character set
 UTF-8 encoded Unicode
 Allows you to publish data in multiple languages, not just English
• Allows for query redirection to the best database
(https://data.iana.org/rdap/)
• Time-sequenced records allow things like WHOWAS
* Source: RDAP.org

13. RDAP
13
registry
database
port 80 / 443RDAP
web client
whowas
VizAS
…
whois port 43
JSON

14. RDAP JSON raw
14
$ curl http://rdap.apnic.net/ip/210.17.9.242
{"rdapConformance":["history_version_0","rdap_level_0"],"notices":[{"title":"Source","description":["Objects returned came from
source","APNIC"]},{"title":"Terms and Conditions","description":["This is the APNIC WHOIS Database query service. The objects are in
RDAP format."],"links":[{"value":"http://rdap.apnic.net/ip/210.17.9.242","rel":"terms-of-
service","href":"http://www.apnic.net/db/dbcopyright.html","type":"text/html"}]}],"country":"TW","events":[{"eventAction":"last
changed","eventDate":"2011-06-01T04:13:58Z"}],"name":"TTN-TW","remarks":[{"description":["Taiwan Telecommunication Network Services
Co.,LTD.","110 , 8F , No 89 , Sung Jen RD , Taipei"],"title":"description"},{"description":["service
provider"],"title":"remarks"}],"type":"ALLOCATED
PORTABLE","endAddress":"210.17.127.255","ipVersion":"v4","startAddress":"210.17.0.0","handle":"210.17.0.0 -
210.17.127.255","objectClassName":"ip
network","links":[{"value":"http://rdap.apnic.net/ip/210.17.9.242","rel":"self","href":"http://rdap.apnic.net/ip/210.17.0.0/17","type
":"application/rdap+json"}],"entities":[{"roles":["abuse"],"events":[{"eventAction":"last changed","eventDate":"2017-01-
22T22:54:59Z"}],"vcardArray":["vcard",[["version",{},"text","4.0"],["fn",{},"text","IRT-TFN-
TW"],["kind",{},"text","group"],["adr",{"label":"7F., No. 172-1, Sec. 2, Ji-Lung Rd.nTaipei City 106, Taiwan
R.O.C."},"text",["","","","","","",""]],["email",{},"text","ethanchen@taiwanmobile.com"],["email",{"pref":"1"},"text","ethanchen@taiw
anmobile.com"]]],"handle":"IRT-TFN-
TW","objectClassName":"entity","links":[{"value":"http://rdap.apnic.net/ip/210.17.9.242","rel":"self","href":"http://rdap.apnic.net/e
ntity/IRT-TFN-TW","type":"application/rdap+json"}]},{"roles":["administrative","technical"],"events":[{"eventAction":"last
changed","eventDate":"2011-12-06T00:10:19Z"}],"remarks":[{"description":["### Crime, Abuse , Spam , Security ###","CSC TEL : 0809-
000-188","CSC TEL : +886-2-4066-0357","abuse@tfn.com.tw","abuse@tfn.com.tw","### Crime, Abuse , Spam , Security
###"],"title":"remarks"}],"vcardArray":["vcard",[["version",{},"text","4.0"],["fn",{},"text","TTN IP-
Team"],["kind",{},"text","group"],["adr",{"label":"Taiwan Mobile Co., Ltd.nNetwork Assurance & Technical Support Div.n# Ex TTN
mergedn8F.,No 172-1, Sec 2, Ji-Lung RDnTaipei 106 Taiwan"},"text",["","","","","","",""]],["tel",{"type":"voice"},"text","+886-2-
6638-6888"],["tel",{"type":"fax"},"text","+886-2-6639-0607"],["email",{},"text","whois@ttn.com.tw"]]],"handle":"IP11-
AP","objectClassName":"entity","links":[{"value":"http://rdap.apnic.net/ip/210.17.9.242","rel":"self","href":"http://rdap.apnic.net/e
ntity/IP11-AP","type":"application/rdap+json"}]}],"port43":"whois.apnic.net"}
HTTP “get”
JSON reply

15. RDAP JSON formatted
15
Dict keys:
- rdapConformance
- Notices
- Country
- Events (change data)
- Name (member
account name)
- Remarks (legal entity
name)
- Type
(allocated/assigned)
- ipVersion
- startAddress
- endAddress
- Handle
- objectClassName
- Links
- Entities
- Port43 (source)

16. RDAP in cli
• Use your favourite deserialiser
 curl -L https://rdap.apnic.net/ip/103.103.0.0/24 | jq '.remarks[0].description[0]’
• nicinfo (ARIN’s client)
• openRDAP
• … More to come?
16

17. RDAP client
Web-based client
Processed result

18. RDAP application (whowas)
18
Complex result
https://www.apnic.net/whowas

19. RDAP application (vizAS)
19
https://stats.apnic.net/vizas

20. Route policy extensions for RDAP
“The base JSON data model for RDAP contains objects for
domain name registries (DNRs) and Regional Internet
Registries (RIRs). It does not contain objects for Internet
Routing Registries (IRRs).
This document describes extensions to the RDAP data model
to express route policy.”
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21. 21

22. RDAP benefits
• Better way to represent customer assignments
• Tag data in your own language for LEA, publish in English for the rest of
the world
• Visibility into resource history, showing how resources were used in the
past. Quality Assurance for transfers
• Automation – JSON input to common programming languages
• Will auto-redirect to the right authoritative server
• Exploring an authentication model, to do away with request throttling
• Web protocol is CDN friendly
 Serve local, via anycast or DNS redirection methods
 Cacheable, survives DDoS longer since distributed

23. APNIC RDAP Status
• Achieved:
 Web client implemented May 2015
 WHOWAS implemented late 2016
• Goals:
 Deployment of full-featured RDAP-based client
 Including multilingual content
 Work with NIRs on RDAP adoption and deployment
 Work in IETF on RIR-specific RDAP standards
 Work with NRO ECG on RDAP consistency
 Improvement of APNIC training materials

24. Questions?
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• What do you want from RDAP?
• We can work on it for you