The Future of Local IP Addressing: The “.INTERNAL” Domain

Many of us who have experienced the process of setting up a router can relate to the sensation of confusion when confronted with the IP address that looks something like this: “192.168.x.x”. This address signifies your local IP address, an aspect that might not be clarified to many. To resolve this bewilderment, a global nonprofit that administrates the Internet’s address space comes up with an innovative concept: the .INTERNAL domain.

Why is .INTERNAL Domain Necessary?

This might sound trivial and leave some questioning the need for it, especially since most routers handle such scenarios seamlessly in the background. However, with the recent upsurge in AI applications that leverage local IPs as server interfaces, this proposed change becomes relevant once again.

On January 24, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (more commonly known as ICANN), suggested the .INTERNAL domain as a possible solution to the complications surrounding local IP addressing.

In a statement, ICANN expressed the necessity of such an evolution in the domain naming system: ”Private network operators may need their unique domain naming system that isn’t planned to be widely accessible or used by the broader Domain Name System, especially within closed corporate or home networks. While IANA has exceptionally set aside blocks of private-use IP addresses for such use cases, a comparable private-use namespace in the DNS is largely missing. This lack has led to certain operational practices that carry potential conflict with the root zone or other designated purposes.”

A Comprehensive Look at ICANN and IANA

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), a division within ICANN, is responsible for delegating global IP addresses and managing zones within the Domain Name System (DNS).

Choice Between .PRIVATE and .INTERNAL

ICANN was considering two alternatives for the potential private network domain: .PRIVATE and .INTERNAL. The decision to eliminate .PRIVATE was motivated by the belief that the name might imply a higher degree of privacy than what the actual network would offer. After a period dedicated to public comments, the ICANN board will hold a vote to finalize the adoption of the .INTERNAL domain.

How Will .INTERNAL Impact Consumers?

Ordinarily, an average consumer might not encounter the local IP block during their daily interactions. However, some of the newer AI applications, such as certain versions of “Stable Diffusion”, do require dealing with it. In these instances, installing the required files actually creates a local “server” that users can access via a Web GUI. While most are aware that they are essentially interacting with their own PC (since almost everyone accesses a site via its uniform resource locator (URL) and not its numerical IP address), this may still not be clear to all users. The introduction of the new .INTERNAL domain is designed to clarify this to users.