Remote Peering – A Shift in Internet Architecture

Presented by Ruth Plater, Head of Marketing

France-IX GA, 26 September 2013

Who is IX Reach?

Global wholesale connectivity solutions provider for national and

international Carriers, ISPs, Content Networks and Telco's

Layer 2 Ethernet and MPLS network

30 major global cities (and growing)

20 Internet Exchanges in Europe and the US

75+ data centres on-net

Global leaders in remote peering

Our Global Network

Our Footprint in Numbers

30 Major Global Cities (and Growing)

Amsterdam, Ashburn, Atlanta, Brussels, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dubai, Dublin, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Leeds, London, Los Angeles, Manchester, Madrid, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Paris, Palo Alto, Prague, Reston, San Jose, Stockholm, Vienna, Zurich, Luxembourg

20 Internet Exchanges in Europe and the US

AMS-IX, Any2 (Telx, NY), BNIX, DE-CIX, Equinix Ashburn, Equinix Paris, Equinix Zurich, France-IX, INEX, IX Leeds, IX Manchester, LINX, LIPEX, LONAP, MIX, Netnod, NL-ix, SwissIX, UAE-IX, LU-CIX

75+ Data Centres On-Net

Internet Exchange Partners

Network Services Portfolio

Point-to-Point/Multipoint: city-to-city capacity

Peering at major Internet Exchanges

Amazon Web Services Direct Connect

Transatlantic and coast-to-coast US capacity

Metro Reach: extensive Metro Ethernet in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt,

and Paris

IP Transit

Colocation

Virtual PoPs

Private Leased Lines and VPNs

Peering Vs. Transit

Peering Settlement-free interconnection between two networks Cost efficient Traffic optimisation and low latency Scalability and redundancy Improved end-user experience – closer to the eyeballs Community and marketing

Transit Connecting smaller ISPs, for a fee, to the larger Internet Historically more expensive No control over routes

Traditional Peering Model

Source: Re-Designed from Dr. Peering

Challenges to this Model

Fixed costs (ports, colocation, routers)

Faster decline in Transit costs, with no end in sight

Remote Peering Model

Source: Re-Designed from Dr. Peering

How does Remote Peering Help?

Further cost reductions:

No colocation or hardware infrastructure at each IX required

No deployment/install fees

Bundled transport and connections at the Exchanges

Lower operational costs – customers only pay for the CDR they need

Reduction in upstream costs and reliance on multiple transit connections

Paperwork is vastly reduced for the IXPs

Single point of contact for legal, technical and billing for the customer

Turning up peering is a lot faster

Peering is therefore more accessible to smaller/medium sized networks and developing markets.

More to Consider: International Vs. Local

We used to say “peering keeps traffic local”

Network operators in developing markets connecting “locally” with each

other in remote locations

Remote peering promotes international traffic exchange

But it makes less sense over longer distances

Higher adoption of remote peering to cut costs and headaches

vPoPs make it even easier to enter new markets and remote peer

Content providers want to be closer to the eye-balls

As a result more of a business case for local IXPs to be built

Reaction of IXPs to this Shift

Larger IXPs with critical mass are less at risk than smaller IXs without

IXPs are behaving more and more like networks:

Expanding geographically (both domestically and internationally) - becoming multi-site IXPs and using their “brand” (e.g. France-IX Marseille, UAE-IX powered by DE-CIX, the US market and Open-IX community)

Small IXs are expanding regionally and offering remote peering to bigger IXs (e.g. LU-CIX’s Central European Peering Hub

Some have their own partial networks and offer connectivity - anything to help connect new members

Most have, or are considering, a reseller program to help attract international and diverse members

It is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between international and local peering, and Networks and Internet Exchanges.

France-IX via IX Reach

Remote peering is crucial for building an IXP internationally

13 new members via IX Reach

The time for diversification is now

Transit is still expensive in some places

Developing markets are looking to connect to France and peer with French networks (Francophone Africa, Middle East)

Fractional ports via a remote peering partner are more attractive given the costs of international capacity

Conclusions

Transit costs continue to fall and there’s no end in sight

Peering is still valuable for a network and operators normally use (or at

least consider) a blend of peering direct, remote peering AND transit

Remote peering reduces the costs of peering further

However, this makes less sense over longer distances

Remote peering is a great way to get closer to the eyeballs

The roles of networks and IXPs will change in the future – it’s already

happening!

Developing markets will play a vital part in this shift

A Message from our London HQ