1. The Peering Simulation Game William B. Norton 11-12 August 2010 Nairobi, Kenya Sarova Panafric Hotel Nairobi African Peering and Interconnection Forum: Unlocking Africa’s Regional Interconnection

2. Internet Researcher 90% externally focused Many documents on Protocols Lack of Operations documents Research: Peering –How does Peering work? –What are the definitions? –What are the “Tricks of the Trade?” White paper process..

3. Community Operations Research 1.“Ground Truth” w/dozens of experts 2.Write White Paper v0.1 3.Walk community through WP for comments 4.Revise White Paper into new version 5.Present White Paper at conferences 6.Solicit comments over lunches and dinners White papers so far…

4. Internet Operations White Papers 1)“Interconnection Strategies for ISPs” 2)“Internet Service Providers and Peering” 3)“A Business Case for Peering” 4)“The Art of Peering: The Peering Playbook” 5)“The Peering Simulation Game” 6)“Do ATM-based Internet Exchanges Make Sense Anymore?” 7)“Evolution of the U.S. Peering Ecosystem” 8)“Asia Pacific Peering Guidebook” 9)“A Business Case for Peering in 2004” Freely available. See Web site or send e-mail to wbn@equinix.com Or Google for “William B. Norton”

5. Where did the Peering Simulation Game come from? Conversations: 200 ISP Peering Coordinators Research Paper: “Internet Service Providers and Peering” Today: 1) Definitions of the trade 2) Summary Findings from Research 3) Live the Life: Peering Simulator No Internet Preso is complete without…

6. Internet Statistics 87.5% of all Internet statistics are made up Made Up Real Source: I made it up

7. 3 minute Intro to Peering Transit $$ ISP A ISP B Peering provides routes only to each others customers 1)Transit can costs big bucks. (But it is a convenient plug in the wall that says “Internet  this way”) 2) Peering costs little and reduces transit costs. 3) Q: Who to peer with? How to justify Peering costs? Upstream Transit Provider

8. Definitions of Peering and Transit vs. Def: Transit is the business relationship whereby one ISP sells access to all destinations in its routing table. Def: Peering is the business relationship whereby ISPs reciprocally announce reachability to each others’ transit customers. Peering USNetEastNetWestNet Peering Routing Table (Note: Peering is a Non-Transitive Relationship)

9. The Players Internet Service Provider A –Peering Coordinator Internet Service Provider B –Peering Coordinator Internet Service Provider C –Peering Coordinator Internet Service Provider D –Peering Coordinator

10. 3 Helpers Transit Provider X: Transit Provider Y: Exchange Point Operator:

11. A C B D Transit Provider X Transit Provider Y IXWIXE IXN IXS Y Y XX The Peering Game

12. 3 Rules 1.Goal: Maximize bank holdings. Make money by acquiring customers and reduce transit costs by peering 2.Play: Roll the dice and expand your network by selecting that many adjacent “squares” of customers Gain transit revenue of $2000 for each customer square you own Pay transit fees of $1000 for each square of traffic that other ISPs own 3. If at Exchange Point, two ISPs can negotiate peering: –$2000 recurring cost and loss of 2 turns, ISPs negotiates who covers the costs of peering –Peering ISPs do not have to pay transit for each others squares starting the next turn Quick round…

13. A C B D Transit Provider X Transit Provider Y IXWIXE IXN IXS Y Y XX AAAA A A rolls 5, Wants to peer w/B – moves to IXN Receives revenue on 6 squares (6*$2000) Pays Transit on others squares (3*$1000) $12,000 - $3,000 = $9,000

14. A C B D Transit Provider X Transit Provider Y IXWIXE IXN IXS Y Y XX AAAA A A rolls 5, Pays Transit on others squares (3*$1000) Receives revenue on 6 squares (6*$2000) $12,000 - $3,000 = $9,000 B rolls 3, Going to IXE Receives revenue on 4 squares (4*$2000) Pays Transit on others squares (8*$1000) $8,000 - $8,000 = $0 B B B

15. A C B D Transit Provider X Transit Provider Y IXWIXE IXN IXS Y Y XX AAAA A A rolls 5, Pays Transit on others squares (3*$1000) Receives revenue on 6 squares (6*$2000) $12,000 - $3,000 = $9,000 B rolls 3, Can get to IXE Pays Transit on others squares (8*$1000) Receives revenue on 4 squares (4*$2000) $8,000 - $8,000 = $0 B B B C rolls 6, Can get to IXW, likes IXS Receives revenue on 7 squares (7*$2000) Pays Transit on others squares (11*$1000) $14,000 - $11,000 = $3,000 C C C CC C

16. A C B D Transit Provider X Transit Provider Y IXWIXE IXN IXS Y Y XX AAAA A A rolls 5, Pays Transit on others squares (3*$1000) Receives revenue on 6 squares (6*$2000) $12,000 - $3,000 = $9,000 B rolls 3, Can get to IXE Pays Transit on others squares (8*$1000) Receives revenue on 4 squares (4*$2000) $8,000 - $8,000 = $0 B B B C rolls 6, Can get to IXW, IXS Pays Transit on others squares (11*$1000) Receives revenue on 4 squares (7*$2000) $14,000 - $11,000 = $3,000 C C C CC C D rolls 1, Late entrant heading to IXE Receives revenue on 2 squares (2*$2000) Pays Transit on others squares (17*$1000) $4,000 - $17,000 = -$13,000 D

17. Scoreboard after Round 1 ISP A: $9,000 ISP B: $0 ISPC: $3,000 ISPD: -$13,000 On to Round 2 

18. A C B D Transit Provider X Transit Provider Y IXWIXE IXN IXS Y Y XX AAAA A A rolls 5, Pays Transit on others squares (3*$1000) Receives revenue on 6 squares (6*$2000) $12,000 - $3,000 = $9,000 B rolls 3, Can get to IXE Pays Transit on others squares (8*$1000) Receives revenue on 4 squares (4*$2000) $8,000 - $8,000 = $0 B B B C rolls 6, Can get to IXW, IXS Pays Transit on others squares (11*$1000) Receives revenue on 4 squares (7*$2000) $14,000 - $11,000 = $3,000 C C C CCC D rolls 1, Late entrant heading to IXE Pays Transit on others squares (17*$1000) Receives revenue on 4 squares (2*$2000) $2,000 - $17,000 = -$15,000 D A rolls 3, Attaches to IXW Receives revenue on 9 squares (9*$2000) Pays Transit on others squares (13*$1000) $18,000 - $13,000 = $5,000 Wants to peer with C – split costs? YES: -$1,000 + both lose a turn Neither has to pay transit to each other! A A A C

19. A C B D Transit Provider X Transit Provider Y IXWIXE IXN IXS YC Y XBXA AAAA A A rolls 5, Pays Transit on others squares (3*$1000) Receives revenue on 6 squares (6*$2000) $12,000 - $3,000 = $9,000 B rolls 3, Can get to IXE Pays Transit on others squares (8*$1000) Receives revenue on 4 squares (4*$2000) $8,000 - $8,000 = $0 B B B C rolls 6, Can get to IXW, IXS Pays Transit on others squares (11*$1000) Receives revenue on 4 squares (7*$2000) $14,000 - $11,000 = $3,000 C C C CCC D rolls 1, Late entrant heading to IXE Pays Transit on others squares (17*$1000) Receives revenue on 4 squares (2*$2000) $2,000 - $17,000 = -$15,000 D A rolls 2, Attaches to IXW Pays Transit on others squares (13*$1000) Receives revenue on 8 squares (8*$2000) $16,000 - $13,000 = $3,000 Wants to peer with C – split costs? YES: -$1,000 both lose a turn Neither has to pay transit to each other A A B rolls 6, Attaches to IXE*IXN Receives revenue on 10 squares (10*$2000) Pays Transit on others squares (21*$1000) $20,000 - $21,000 = -$1,000 Wants to peer with A – split costs? NO: You pissed me off, Yes: if $0 & B lose both turns Both walk away B B B B B A Position 9 Revenue squares 1 lost turn Peering w/C reduced cost $8000/turn

20. Let’s play! WELCOME TO BILLAND 4 ISPs that have never played before Open Board $35,000 VC Funding We want to hear your thought process and peering negotiations Winner - prize $25,000 VC Funding 1¥ = $1000 WINNER: At 5:25?PM we will stop and assume that every roll was a “3” from that point on out to 12 rounds..

21. Play the Peering Simulation Game…

22. Top 5 Reasons NOT to Peer

23. Top 5 Reasons not to Peer 1) Already get Traffic for “free” (through existing peering relationships) Transit $$$ Yahoo! Transit ISP EXODUS Peering $ AOL

24. Top 5 Reasons not to Peer 2) Not True Peers Traffic inequity Scale inequity Not even investments in infrastructure Form: “I don’t want to haul your traffic around the globe” Large Global Network Provider Small Regional Player Huge investment in Int’s circuits, 100’s of routers and colo sites, Staff installs, peering negotiations, Millions of customers, etc.

25. Top 5 Reasons Not to Peer 3) Lack of Technical Competence Troubleshooting network problems takes longer when the other ISP NOC and engineers lack the technical expertise during an outage…

26. Top 5 Reasons Not to Peer 4) Transit Sales Preferred We rather sell you transit…“Let me introduce you to our sales guys”

27. Top 5 Reasons Not to Peer 5) BGP is Tough “BGP? No Expertise  No measurements  No Justification to hire experts  BGP?” Primary Backup Transit Primary Backup Transit Conceptual Hurdle ComplexSimple 6: personality

28. Top 5 Reasons Not To Peer 5+ Personality Clashes: They don’t understand each other and they didn’t like the interaction So Peering sounds easy?