IP Mapping Idea

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Last updated February 18, 2019 by Zach

Hi #architecture,

I'd like to propose an algorithm for making a Node Number to IP mapping programmatically.
This is not a *new* idea. Several of us have thought about it and taken a stab at it, and I'd like to officially see if we can all agree on one.
Also, the below ideas represent generally a few models of what can be done. There are infinite variations, but the generally follow the below pattern.

The idea:
- For a given Node Number ( X ), and a given IPv4 Slash 16 address space ( ex: 10.0.0.0/16 ), Get a unique IP in the range for that node.
- The mapping is generic. It could be used as a node identifier, a peering LAN, link local, public, or private.
- If we can agree, it will be much easier to peer, login to node by name/number, and generate and automate node setup without a central authority.

Use cases:
- We could for example give each node an identifier so we can always find the node and it will announce itself
- We could OSPF peer without needing additional filtering or mapping. Config can be generated
- We could BGP peer any to any without filtering, just by typing the node number of the peer
- WDS, litebeam, and wired connections can be used simultaneously without doubling the number of addresses needed each time.

For the below, two numbers will be given, Y and Z, they can be seen as 10.0.Y.Z for mapping in to the /16 block

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Strategy 1 - As Needed:
For each node that needs an address, pick the next unused address and assign it.
This is what we do now.
Ex:
node 1 = 	0 1
node 500 = 	0 2
node 392 = 	0 3

Advantages:
- Can fit the most nodes in the space as possible (65K)
Disadvantages:
- Need a huge lookup table
- Supereasy to overlap and make a mistake with another node

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Strategy 2 - Straight Allocation:
For each node, split the upper and lower bits of the number across the octets, resulting in each 256 node rolling over to the next /24.
Ex:
node 10 = 	0 10
node 200 = 	0 200
node 256 = 	1 0
node 500 = 	1 245
node 2218 = 	8 178
node 5000 = 	19 155
node 7000 = 	27 115
node 10000 = 	39 55
node 11000 = 	43 35

Advantages:
- Can fit the most nodes in the space as possible (65K)
Disadvantage:
- Not human understandable, will need to reference a calculator.
- Only one node per site is assumed

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Strategy 3 - Human Easy Split:
For each node number, split the number phyiscally in two parts and map the last two digits to the last octet, and the first two ( or three ) digits to the second-to-last octet
If a node will have more than one router, increase the last octet by 100. Since we only use 0-99, 100-199 can be secondary for all nodes without hurting the human readability.
This also reserves an extra 55 IPs ( 200-255 ) for every 100 nodes as more-than-secondary IPs that would have to be assigned statically but unlikely to hurt or overlap.
Ex:
node 10 =  	0 10
node 200 = 	2 00
node 256 = 	2 56
node 500 = 	5 00
node 2218 = 	22 18
node 5000 = 	50 00
node 7000 = 	70 00
node 7998 = 	79 98
  rtr 1     	79 198
node 7999 = 	79 99
node 8000 = 	80 00
node 8001 = 	80 01
node 10000 = 	100 00
node 11000 = 	110 00
node 25599 = 	255 99

Advantage:
- Human understandable
- Built-in allowance for more than one router per node
- Can be calculated using string tools in addition to math tools
Disadvantages:
- Inefficient allocation, Only 25599 nodes can be used
- No logic for more than 2 routers per site ( will need to manually assign )

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Strategy 4 - Bit Shift with span:
For each node number, map it to the linear numbers in the range, but shift the bits up two so that each node gets 4 addresses. This will allow for 4 routers at each site, and create a virtual /30 for each site ( 4 addresses )
Ex:
node 1 =                00000000 000001XX
 node1rtr1		00000000 00000100
 node1rtr2              00000000 00000101
 node1rtr3              00000000 00000110
 node1rtr4              00000000 00000111
node 2 =                00000000 000010XX
 node1rtr1              00000000 00001000
 node1rtr2              00000000 00001001
 node1rtr3              00000000 00001010
 node1rtr4              00000000 00001011

node 10 =  0 40
  rtr 1	   0 40
  rtr 2	   0 41
  rtr 3	   0 42
  rtr 4	   0 43
node 11 =  0 44
  rtr 1	   0 44
  rtr 2	   0 45
  rtr 3	   0 46
  rtr 4	   0 47
node 200 = 3 44
node 256 = 4 16
node 500 = 7 236
node 2218 = 35 52
node 5000 = 79 92
node 7000 = 111 28
node 7998 = 126 240
  rtr 1     126 241
node 7999 = 126 244
node 8000 = 126 248
node 8001 = 127 0
node 10000 = 158 184
node 11000 = 174 152
node 16118 = 255 212
ndoe 16127 = 255 248

Advantage:
- Very efficient allocation of space
- Support for four routers per site
- No manual mapping will be needed even for special cases
- Even though the mapping is complicated, all routers at a site will be adjacent numerically.
Disadvantage:
- Not human readable, even more complicated mapping that will require a calculator.
- Not as many nodes as other strategies, only 16128 nodes can be assigned.