North American Network Operators Group

Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical

Re: BBN Peering issues

  • From: Charles Sprickman
  • Date: Thu Aug 13 16:35:34 1998

On Thu, 13 Aug 1998, Sean M. Doran wrote:

> Uhm, OK, so what's the difference between that and a customer connection
> across which BGP is spoken?
> 
> 	Sean.

I'm starting to get lost here, so maybe someone can restate things in a
way that's educational and appropriate to the charter of the list.

The question above is rather interesting, and what I'd like to know is
what are the various types of "peering" that various ISPs have arranged
between each other?  

"public" - each ISP is at a public exchange point and traffic that is
destined to/from each provider moves across whatever hardware is provided
at the exchange point.  This could exist at all exchange points where both
parties have an adequate presence.  Possible additional cost if traffic
that would come from another peer is shifted here and bandwidth to the
exchange needs to be increased.

"private" - A connection exists either via PTP, ATM, FR, or whatever else
you can think of between the involved parties.  One or both parties pay
for the link.  One time hardware outlay.  Seems expensive.  Less expensive
than "buying" an DS3 or higher port from the provider.  Who buys from
whom?  Who pays?  These must be NDA'd.  Can anyone cite some examples of
what some providers *might* do to make it a fair trade when this is an
NDA'd agreement?

"public/private hybrid" - Existing exchange point equipment and
connections are used.  Purchase ether/fddi cable from MFS to run between
your equipment.  Cheap?  No telco charges, consolidate your pipes.

So what was the Exodus/GTEI agreement like?  Did it fit neatly into one of
these categories?  Are there other more esoteric arrangements?  Is GTEI
basically trying to get Exodus as a "customer" in a round-about way?  That
certainly seems like an easy way to make more cash.  "I'll talk to you,
but only if you buy 'Peering Bundle #A13' from us at $100,000/mo. and you
have no other options.  We are big, and this is what you need to do to
be a peer."

Is this an accurate assessment?  Please set me on track if I'm
misunderstanding the concepts at work here...

Thanks,

Charles

=-----------------=                                        = 
| Charles Sprickman                       Internet Channel |
| INCH System Administration Team         (212)243-5200    |
| [email protected]                          [email protected]  |
=                                         =----------------=