Doing some research....
Anyone have a list of Transit and Paid Peering exchange fabrics?
I am interested in both US and EU locations, particularly in interesting
sites like 111 8th Ave (NYC), Telehouse North (London) and other major telco
hotel type facilities.
I'll summarize for the list and repost.
Thanks,
Very few exchanges place any restriction upon the private commercial
arrangements between participants, any more. There are a few which
actively promote transit use, like ExchangePoint.
You might be better served by simply compiling a list of exchanges you'd
actually like to be at, and then checking to see if they have any policies
which preclude what you want to do, and then checking those to see whether
they're actually enforced, or whether those policies are on their way out.
-Bill
Woody,
Actually I'm pretty well aware of IXPs in general, having been a peering
coordinator - I'm doing some specific research for enterprises on exchanges
that are along the lines of Equinix Direct, XPE, or Band-X, to name a few.
In general, enterprises are not willing to peer the way that ISPs are - that
is, show up, and try to get some peering in a speculative fashion. Most are
more comfortable showing up at a site with the expectation to pay, and a
good idea of exactly who they can pay to get the services they need
(basically, transit, not peering). They also tend to want centralized
accounting, and sometimes a route server and a high degree of technical
assistance are helpful. The average IXP does not even come close to meeting
these requirements, sadly.
We are starting to see more and more enterprises move into colocation spaces
that have been traditionally ISP or carrier - the telcom hotels. Many of
these enterprises want an easy way to pick up transit while they are there
with minimum fuss.
So far, I'm a bit surprised about how few folks are doing this. London seems
to be a bright spot, having several providers of this sort of service.
Equinix is also leading the way in Ashburn and San Jose. If anyone know of
any providers offering this services in the NYC area, it would be helpful...
- Dan
In general, enterprises are not willing to peer the way that ISPs are - that
> is, show up, and try to get some peering in a speculative fashion. Most are
> more comfortable showing up at a site with the expectation to pay, and a
> good idea of exactly who they can pay to get the services they need
> (basically, transit, not peering). They also tend to want centralized
> accounting, and sometimes a route server and a high degree of technical
> assistance are helpful. The average IXP does not even come close to meeting
> these requirements, sadly.
There's been talk about running a subscription-based peering brokerage
service on the west coast, primarily aimed at Asian carriers and networks,
in exactly the fashion you're describing, and that talk has gone on for
quite a few years, ever since the first few Japanese carriers showed up at
the PAIX and had trouble getting peering because of communication (people
not technical) issues. The Asia Pacific Internet Consortium nearly got
it done, but attempts so far seem to have kind of petered out. I'd be
interested in seeing what you find out, as would a lot of other people,
I'm sure. Can you propose it as a talk to Susan Harris, for a future
NANOG meeting, if your results are going to be public?
-Bill
Certainly - I'd be happy to.
- Dan