1. Peering Information: Some Data Points
William B. Norton
Co-Founder and Chief Technical Liaison
Equinix, Inc.

2. NSFNET to Post-NSFNET Era Internet
OarNet
Merit
NyserNet
NWNet
NSFNET ( ) Regional Tech Meetings
Performance & Operations
Reporting & Coordination
Routing & Network Planning
NEARNet
BARRNet
NSFNET
Regional
Regional
SDSC
Sesqui
Regional
NCAR
OarNet
Merit
NWNet
NyserNet
ANS
Privatization (1994-Now) North American Network Operators Group
(NANOG) Meetings
UUNet
Sprint
MCI
Regional
AT&T
Regional
Regional
Regional
Mom, C. No Internet Preso…

3. Internet Statistics 87.5% of all Internet statistics are made up.
Source: I made it up.
Source: I made it up

4. My Job Now Bad Jokes in Public Forums Internet Operations Research
Present Findings in Forums
ITU – Rio de Janeiro
RIPE – Budapest
NANOG – Montreal, Eugene
ISPCon - *
IIR – London
Inet – Prague, Yokohama
APRICOT – Manila, Singapore,
Seoul, Kuala Lumpur
INTAP - Tokyo
IETF – Oslo
FCC – Washington DC
ITW – Seattle
Cisco Forum, CLEC Expo,
IWS2000 Tskuba, Etc.
Audience…

5. Internet Service Providers and Peering
200 ISP Peering Coordinators
Terminology, strategies,
Process, thought pattern
 One of the Most Difficult Parts of Peering is Initiating Contact (who, how, initiating dialog)

6. So, at Montreal NANOG Peering BOF – presented white paper
Introduced “Peering Contact Database”
Only for Peering Coordinators
Toss in business card (w/AS#)
All those in PCD get ed updated PCD
130 Peering Coordinators listed today
I evangelize the PCD during my talks

7. Current PCD Listings
Demographics of the Peering Contact Database

8. Survey 2001: Study of Global IX Populations
Surveyed All exchange points in the worldψ
Copied All participants information
Midway through
2000
2001
Combining contact info
From multiple exchanges
Gives a better view of
Potential contact points
Ψ Started with ep.net and expanded into other publicly available information

9. Preliminary Findings
Some Peering Contacts are more than 2 Peering Coordinators out of date
Discovered best practices of Exchange Point Operators Web Sites
Many don’t have participants lists
Highly variable types of info at exchanges
European exchanges tend to be have better web sites for ISP Peering Coordinator usage

10. Best Exchange Point Web Site in the World
Clearly understands the information needs of the ISP Peering Coordinator
Telcos
Names, sales contacts, phone #s and
Participating ISPs
Names, peering contacts, phone #’s and
Crisp Layout

11. Recent additions to the “Internet Service Providers and Peering” White Paper
Last Version
3 Stages of Peering:
Selection of Peering Partners
Initial Contact / Peering Negotiations
Peering Implementation
 Top 5 Reasons NOT to peer

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

13. Large Global Network Provider
Top 5 Reasons not to Peer
Huge investment in Int’s circuits,
100’s of routers and colo sites,
Staff installs, peering negotiations,
Millions of customers, etc.
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

14. 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…

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

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

17. Top 5 Reasons Not To Peer 5+ Personality Clashes:
They don’t understand each other
and they don’t like the interaction

18. Thank you for coming: Main Points
Survey 2001 – Contact Info out of date
Peering Contact Database
Send to to get listed
Resources Available to the Peering Coordinator Community…

19. Resources: Internet Operations Research White Papers
“Interconnection Strategies for ISPs”
“Internet Service Providers and Peering”
“Peering: Cost Savings Strategies for ISPs”  draft
“Peering Simulation Game”  draft
“Build vs. Buy Internet Datacenter” draft
Send for the Peering Contact Database
Send to

20. White Paper: Interconnection Strategies for ISPs
Direct circuits replaced with:
OC-12 into Exchange
Fiber cross connects
Cost Drivers:
Big OC-12 Direct Circuit
Cheap Fiber Cross Connects
Aggregation Efficiency over OC-12 (2:1,3:1)
Rack Fees
Exchange Model Cost Formula:
ExchangeModelCost=BigDirectCircuit()+(n-1)*x/2+RackFees()
OC-12 $23,000/mo XC=$200/mo Rack=$1500/mo
So does the Exchange-based model make sense?

21. White Paper: Internet Service Providers & Peering
Transit $$
ISP A
ISP B
Transit ISP
Peering
USNet
EastNet
WestNet
Routing
Table

22. White Paper: Peering: Cost Savings Strategies for ISPs

23. White Paper: The Peering Simulation Game

24. White Paper: Build Vs. Buy Internet DataCenter
Modeling:
When does it make sense to build your own?
To Outsource?
Issues to consider
Economies of Scale?
Multiple Business Models