1. ESnet Peering Status October 11, 2006 R. Kevin Oberman Network Engineer Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

2. ESnet Commercial Peering Status ● ESnet is a default free (Tier1) carrier ● ~60 commercial peers ● Connected to major exchanges at location around the country  MAEs, PAIX, and Equinix  Major telco carrier facilities ● National high-speed backbone (10Gbps) ● Open to almost any peer ● Private connections to most other Tier 1 providers

3. ESnet Peering A History of Cooperation ● ESnet pre-dates the commercial Internet by many years  Precursor (MFEnet) started over 30 years old  One of three national backbones prior to Internet commercialization  Started working on peering issues with NSFnet, NASA, and router companies before the appearance of commercial peering ● Original peer of most commercial provider  Often “grandfathered” when new peering requirements are initiated ● ESnet model is no longer available

4. Maintaining Peering ● Commercial peers are businesses  Maintaining a peering is NOT free ● You need to convince them that peering is worthwhile ● Don't expect them to expend many resources  Don't threaten their bottom line! ● Don't annoy the 800 pound gorillas (Tier 1s)  We try to stay under the radar  We are VERY careful to avoid doing anything which causes peers to spend time and/or effort on us ● Filter, QA, Communicate ● Keep track of flows to peers  Allows you to point out who would be unhappy if you became unreachable  Provides information on which peers are important

5. Smaller Providers are Easy(er) ● Tier 2 providers often very willing to peer  At exchange points on public fabric  Can offload critical/high-volume traffic from paid transit connection(s) ● Generally free ● Flow data can point you at which peers are valuable ● Of current exchanges, Equinix is best today followed by the PAIX and MAE exchanges ● Personal contacts can help a lot

6. Social Networking (not MySpace) ● Attend network meetings where commercial provides are present  NANOG  ARIN (Which is where I should also be right now) ● Make presentations! (Best if you have something worthwhile to say)  Everyone sees and many remember a good speaker  Probably best not to make a bad presentation

7. Summary ● Commercial peering is always available for $$$ ● Free peering is harder, but not impossible  Requires business case  Personal contact helps a LOT  Good reputation sure helps ● Default-free commercial connectivity is probably not an option ● Small providers at peering points can cut bandwidth required from tier 1