Technical guide
What is IANA: Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
Understand the shared records behind your network: what IANA does, where ICANN and the regional registries fit, and how that knowledge helps you plan IPv4 supply.
Explore IPv4 ContinuityIANA keeps the Internet's names, numbers and protocol identifiers consistent across independent networks. For an ISP, cloud platform or hosting business, that means a common reference for the addresses and services your customers rely on. It does not run your network or supply ordinary customers with an IPv4 plan.
What does IANA stand for?
IANA stands for Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. Its work has roots in the Internet's earliest technical coordination. Today, Public Technical Identifiers (PTI), an ICANN affiliate, performs the IANA functions. The IANA overview explains this role.
Think of the registries as shared reference books. They record which identifiers have been assigned so that separate networks and software systems can use them consistently.
Why does the Internet need IANA?
Your network connects to networks you do not own or operate. Shared identifiers let those systems work together without one organization running them all.
- Public address allocations need to avoid conflicting assignments.
- An Autonomous System Number (ASN) identifies an autonomous system in inter-network routing.
- DNS needs consistent records of top-level domain delegations.
- A protocol value needs the same meaning in equipment and software from different suppliers.
This is coordination that makes interoperability possible. It is different from choosing how an operator builds, funds or runs a network.
What are the main functions of IANA?
IANA's work covers three areas: the DNS root, Internet number resources and protocol parameter registries. Each gives independent systems a reliable common reference.
1. DNS root-zone management
DNS helps turn a name such as a website address into information a computer can use. At the top of its hierarchy, the root zone records delegations for top-level domains such as .com, .net, .org and country-code domains.
IANA processes changes to those delegations and their technical details. Its Root Zone Database identifies top-level domain managers and associated records. Its domain functions also include .int and .arpa, root DNSSEC key work and IDN-related resources.
Does IANA sell domain names?
No. You normally register a domain through a registrar or reseller. The top-level domain registry manages that domain space; IANA coordinates the root-level delegation.
Does IANA operate every DNS server?
No. Root server operators, top-level domain operators, hosting providers and other organizations run different parts of DNS. IANA's root-zone role does not mean it answers every DNS query.
2. IP addresses and Autonomous System Numbers
IANA maintains global registries for IPv4, IPv6 and ASNs. At the top of the allocation system, it distributes available number-resource pools to the five Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). RIRs administer resources in their service regions.
| Registry | Full name | General service region |
|---|---|---|
| AFRINIC | African Network Information Centre | Africa |
| APNIC | Asia Pacific Network Information Centre | Asia-Pacific |
| ARIN | American Registry for Internet Numbers | United States, Canada and parts of the Caribbean |
| LACNIC | Latin America and Caribbean Network Information Centre | Latin America and parts of the Caribbean |
| RIPE NCC | Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre | Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia |
The IANA number-resource overview sets out the allocation hierarchy. For the regional layer, read our guide to Regional Internet Registries.
For your business, the distinction is practical: the global registry explains where resources enter the system. Your address provider and network arrangements determine how you obtain usable capacity and bring it into service. A registry entry alone does not configure BGP or deliver customer traffic.
3. Internet protocol parameters
The IANA protocol registries record values that software and network equipment must interpret consistently. Examples include service names and port numbers, IP protocol numbers, media types, DNS parameters, HTTP fields, TLS values, address families and URI schemes.
A port registry lets a developer check an assigned service number. A protocol-number registry identifies the meaning of a field in an IP packet. Shared records prevent different implementations from assigning conflicting meanings to the same value.
Does IANA create Internet standards?
IANA maintains the assignments that standards require. Technical communities, particularly the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), develop the standards themselves. A standard can specify a new registry, reserve values or define how an existing registry accepts assignments. IANA carries out that registry work.
Does IANA set Internet policy?
IANA implements the procedures attached to its different functions. Protocol assignments follow the relevant technical standards; number-resource allocation follows global policies; root-zone changes follow the established delegation process. These are distinct processes, not one general power to govern everything online.
The governance question is who can authorize decisions that affect a running network. In The Multi-Stakeholder Mirage, Lu Heng argues that participation in a forum does not, by itself, give its participants a mandate to bind absent operators and their customers. His focus is on the people who finance the network and bear the consequences when service breaks.
What is the difference between IANA and ICANN?
ICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. IANA refers to the technical coordination functions; PTI is the ICANN affiliate that performs them. ICANN also has wider policy, organizational and accountability structures. Our ICANN explainer covers that broader role.
What is the difference between IANA and an RIR?
| IANA | Regional Internet Registries |
|---|---|
| Maintains top-level number-resource registries. | Maintain registration records within their service regions. |
| Allocates available global pools to the RIRs. | Allocate or assign resources through their regional systems. |
| Also coordinates DNS-root and protocol-parameter functions. | Provide regional number-resource registration and related services. |
Those service regions describe administration. They do not make a registry the operator of every network in its region. Lu Heng examines that distinction in his Note on who can speak for a continent, community or end user.
What is the difference between IANA and a Local Internet Registry?
A Local Internet Registry (LIR) operates closer to address users, often as an ISP or network provider. It can receive resources through a regional registry and distribute them to customers or its own infrastructure. IANA sits at the global coordination layer, not at this customer delivery layer.
Does IANA control the Internet?
No. IANA does not operate every router, host every website or decide every traffic path. Operators build the networks, arrange connectivity and run the services. Registries make shared identifiers usable across those networks.
Registration, routing and service delivery are connected but different jobs. Keeping them distinct helps you identify who can solve an address-record issue, a BGP problem or a customer outage.
IANA, Internet governance and IP address sovereignty
A registry's ability to change a record can have serious operational effects. That makes continuity and accountability important to your business. It does not turn a registration database into a government or its service region into a border around the Internet.
IP address sovereignty: who has the right to decide? explores Lu Heng's argument that coordination should serve operators, with accurate records, portable resources and a workable way to replace an administrator.
Why is IANA important to network operators?
Your customers want reachable applications, reliable connections and room to grow. Consistent identifiers underpin those outcomes. They help networks recognize addresses, exchange routing information and interpret the same protocols.
For an ISP, hosting business or cloud platform, turn that knowledge into three practical decisions:
- Secure capacity for growth. Plan around the public addresses your next customers and services will need.
- Connect registration to routing. Know who handles resource records and who brings the addresses into your network.
- Build continuity into supply. Choose a partner that addresses the upstream registry relationship as well as the initial delivery.
LARUS brings first-party supply and Continuity together so you can focus on serving more customers with Unlimited IPv4. Its foundation includes Cloud Innovation's court-ordered statutory shareholder position and authorization to LARUS, documented in the published judgment and authorization evidence.
Why accurate Internet registries matter
Accurate records help operators trace assignments, reach the right contact and coordinate changes. Your business needs those records to remain dependable throughout the life of the service, not just on the day addresses arrive.
Lu Heng's Bill of Rights of Uniqueness Coordination proposes a registry layer focused on unique identifiers, accurate records and operational continuity, with stronger limits on administrative power. That is the customer-centered principle: coordination should support the network your customers depend on.
Frequently asked questions about IANA
What is IANA?
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority coordinates globally unique Internet identifiers, helping independent networks and applications work together.
What are the three main IANA functions?
DNS root-zone coordination, global IP address and ASN registries, and Internet protocol parameter registries.
Who operates IANA?
Public Technical Identifiers (PTI), an affiliate of ICANN, performs the IANA functions.
Does IANA assign IP addresses to individuals?
Ordinary users get addresses through their Internet, hosting or network provider. They do not apply to IANA for a home or business connection.
Does IANA assign IP addresses directly to companies?
For ordinary network use, companies obtain capacity through regional allocation channels or address and connectivity providers. IANA handles the global layer, including special-purpose registry functions.
Does IANA own all IP addresses?
IANA's role is to coordinate assignments and maintain registries. That role should not be confused with a blanket ownership claim over every resource or network recorded in them.
Does IANA manage domain names?
It coordinates the DNS root and specific domain-related functions. Registrars and top-level domain registries handle ordinary domain registration.
Is IANA part of ICANN?
The IANA functions are performed by PTI, which is an ICANN affiliate. IANA and ICANN describe different roles within that structure.
What is an IANA protocol registry?
A published record of assigned protocol values, such as service ports or media types, that gives implementers a consistent reference.
Why is IANA important for IPv4?
Its top-level records support a consistent global allocation system. For your business, dependable IPv4 supply also needs a provider, usable routing arrangements and continuity through change.
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