An IPv4 is just 4 bytes. IPv6 is 16 bytes.
Let’s say your customer ID is 8 digits long, and a string just to make a shitty design, that should fare worse against your arguments.
Now all we need is another 8 bytes to store time.
Each entry in the IPv4 and IPv6 assignment table would look like so:
{ time_t time uint32 ipv4 uint128 ipv6 char[8] customer_id } |
This entry can hold at what time, your customer ID, claimed such IPv4 and such IPv6. This entry on its own takes 8+4+16+8 bytes, which is 36 bytes. If I have 2TB, it means I can store 61083979320 instances of someone claiming a pair of IPv4 and IPv6. Now if I extrapolate that to RAID10, and ZFS, and add compression, you can see that evading ISP IP claim logging is an extremely retarded uphill battle that nobody can win unless the ISP keeps its databases on floppies.
The amount of storage space an ISP needs to store information on all customers for 2 years depends on several factors, and using just the length of an IPv4 address as a basis wouldn’t give an accurate picture. Here’s a breakdown of the key aspects to consider:
Data stored:
- Customer information: This includes basic details like name, address, contact information, and account details. This would take up relatively little space.
- Usage data: This could include metadata like time of connection, duration, bandwidth usage, and types of services used (e.g., browsing, email, streaming). This data can vary significantly depending on customer activity and retention policies.
- Content data: In some cases, ISPs might store the actual content of communication, such as email messages or web browsing history. This would drastically increase storage requirements.
Data retention:
- Legal requirements and internal policies determine how long data is stored. 2 years is a common timeframe, but it can be shorter or longer depending on the jurisdiction and data type.
Data compression and optimization:
- Techniques like data compression and log file optimization can significantly reduce storage needs.
Therefore, it’s difficult to give a single answer to this question without knowing more specifics about the ISP and the data they store. However, for a large popular ISP, the storage space could range from tens of petabytes to even exabytes, depending on the factors mentioned above.
For example, if an ISP stores only basic customer information and usage metadata for 2 years, with efficient data compression, they might require around 50-100 petabytes. However, if they also store content data for longer periods and with minimal compression, the storage needs could easily reach the exabyte scale.
It’s important to remember that data storage is a major cost factor for ISPs, and they constantly strive to optimize their storage solutions while complying with regulations and user privacy considerations.