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RE: multi-homing fixed

  • From: Alex Bligh
  • Date: Tue Aug 28 11:30:52 2001 


The real problem with most basement multi-homers is they go with the
cheapest local service they can get, often from someone clueless with one
POP / one path.  To fix this, they add another cheap, local, clueless
service and pray they don't get clueless at the same time.  Then they
inflict bad judgement on the rest of the Internet by demanding their
routes be distributed.  Bad plan.



I do not think anyone (Randy included) is questioning the right of
basement-dwellers to multihome (by my previous definition). I think
what is being questioned by many and various is
(a) their right to do it at other people's expense, without
   reimbursement
(b) whether the (non-reimbursed) cost to the community is
   greater than the (non-paid for) gain to the community.
(c) whether there are other technologies which cost less
   in total, and/or attribute cost more directly to those
   who benefit from it.
(d) whether in an effort to achieve multihoming, they are
   selecting the technology which costs them the least, or
   costs the community the least.

Whilst there is no current mechanism to reliably achieve
(a) (beyond Roeland kindly offering to pay for Sean's
routers), direct market forces fail, so, like with so many
other problems, the internet community has come up with
hueristic mechanisms to enforce (b) i.e. 'your reachability
information is only worth the cost of my carrying it
if it contains announcements shorter than a /nn, and I
will rely on RIR's to demonstrate that there is a fair
correlation between assigment size (and thus prefix
length) and usefulness of the prefix to me.

If all this sounds a bit "matter of opinion", type stuff,
which will never get resolved, well, yes it is, and thus
just the right sort of stuff for a flamewar on NANOG.

Great, just so long as elsewhere, people are thinking about
(c). And then we can have the adoption flamewar (d) on NANOG
afterwards.

--
Alex Bligh
Personal Capacity