AS21

AS21 is a legacy single-digit allocation registered under ARIN to The RAND Corporation, the Santa Monica policy research institution, the same entity named in RFC 1020/1166 ("RAND"). RAND holds a notable place in Internet origins: per RAND's own history, Paul Baran — who joined RAND in 1959 — conceived of digital packet switching there while working on a U.S. telecommunications scheme designed to survive a first strike, work captured in his eleven-volume "On Distributed Communications" (1964). Today the ASN actively announces twelve IPv4 /24 prefixes (~3,072 addresses) and no IPv6, with about six upstreams and six peers; Hurricane Electric flags "AS21 announces bogons," a hygiene note rather than abuse. (Sources disagree slightly on the address count — IPQualityScore lists ~2,040 — so the live routing-table figure of 3,072 is preferred.) The ARIN ASN RegDate is 1984-07-30. For triage this is an old corporate/research allocation, actively routed, with a clean profile and historical significance as the birthplace of packet-switching theory. No notable public abuse signal was found as of June 2026.

Operator

The RAND Corporation (ARIN OrgId THERAN-Z, Santa Monica, CA) [Confirmed] — ARIN RDAP

Country / RIR

US, ARIN [Confirmed]

Allocated

ARIN ASN RegDate 1984-07-30; original 1980s assignment not separately exposed [Confirmed for shown date]

Org status

active — rand.org

Security/abuse context (NEUTRAL, DATED)

no notable public abuse signal found as of 2026-06-08; bogon flag noted neutrally — bgp.he.net

Network & routing

Network type

enterprise / nonprofit research institution (policy think tank) [Confirmed]

Size

12 IPv4 /24 prefixes (~3,072 addrs), 0 IPv6 — bgp.tools (2026-06); IPQualityScore lists ~2,040 (discrepancy — prefer routing-table figure)

Routing/peering

actively announcing; ~6 upstreams, 6 peers; HE flags "announces bogons"; RPKI unknown — bgp.tools, bgp.he.net

Notable usage

The RAND Corporation; RFC 1020/1166 "RAND". Historically significant — Paul Baran (joined RAND 1959) conceived digital packet switching here; "On Distributed Communications" (1964) — rand.org

Related ASNs

none specifically confirmed for this profile

Analyst note

Old corporate/research allocation, actively routed, clean profile; historically notable as the birthplace of packet-switching theory.