The 3 Stages of Peering

Interviews with 200 ISP Peering Coordinators revealed… 3 General Phases of Peering: 1) Identification of Potential Peer – the who 2) Initial Contact and Qualification – the why 3) Implementation Discussions – the how

I. Phase 1: Identification of Peer: Traffic Engineering Data Collection and Analysis Motivations: Reduce load on expensive Transit service Traffic src/dest Measure or Intuit Usage-based Billing 2 nd Goal: Lower latency Result  Top 10 list (see next page) Part of larger business deal Seek interconnection Transit $$ Transit $$ ISP A ISP B Transit ISP

Sample Top 10 Destination List

Phase 1: Identification of Potential Peer

II. Phase 2: Contact & Qualification, Initial Peering Discussion How to make contact with potential peer ISP? 1. person or 2.Exchange point participant list 3.Tech-c/admin-c from DNS/ASN registries 4.Engineering Forums NANOG, IETF, RIPE, etc. 5.Trade shows: speakers and booth staff 6.Target ISP sales force 7.Target ISP NOC

II. Phase 2: Contact & Qualification, Initial Peering Discussion Once contact is made… 1.Sometimes Mutual NDA 2.Exchange BiLateral Peering Agreement (BLPA) 3.Traffic Data justification shared One basis: Peering iff PeeringCost < TransitSavings? 4.Requirements Exchange (e.g. Must be at n Public Peering Points, xMbps, private peering migration strategy, etc.) Either Party may walk away….. If still interested, implementation discussion…

Phase 2: Contact and Qualification

III. Phase 3: Implementation Discussions How to interconnect? Direct Circuit-based Interconnection VS. Exchange-Based Interconnection

Cost Comparison at n=5 costDCfn()=(n-1)*C/2 $2,500 n=5 costDC=(4)*$2500/2 costDC=$5,000/mo costExchfn()=BDC+(n-1)*x/2+Racks $5,000 n=5, 1 costExch=$5,000+(4)(250/2)+$1000 costExch=$6,500/mo More expensive to use Exchange-Based Interconnection Strategy at n=5. N>5?

Exchange-based vs. Direct Circuit Interconnection Direct Circuits Model MUX Big Pipes Model Dark Fiber Model

9 Exchange Selection Criteria 1.Telecommunications Access Issues 2.Deployment Issues (getting in & up) 3.ISP Current Presences (there yet?) 4.Operations Issues (restrictions?) 5.Business Issues (neutrality/alignment) 6.Cost Issues ($$) 7.Credibility Issue (backing,attraction)  8.Exchange Population (side effect) 9.Existing vs. Emerging Exchange?

Value of the Internet Exchange V Exchange N Participants Cost Of Coming In (Circuits+ Routers+ StaffTime) V Capacity The Exchange Startup Hump First Carrier(s) First ISP(s) First CP(s) Critical Mass Point (V exchange =Cost Exchange ) Large Facility Scaling