different thinking on exchanging traffic

Thu Jun 4 19:37:12 UTC 1998

As an interested observer who created NY IIX in New York I can tell you
that getting a NAP or peering point off the ground is no easy task.  One of
the biggest obstacles that I have seen (IMHO) is education.  There are just
soooo many ISPs around who do not understand what peering is or what
advantage peering can be for them!!

The concept of "if you build it will they come" works in some cases but not
all.  With NY IIX the original idea was for it to be an international
exchange point but then even regional backbone providers wanted to peer.
Now we have all mixes from international to regional and many private
peers.  However even with close to 40 internet companies all at one
location, only about 10 are currently taking advantage of the NY IIX NAP.
Many of the rest are doing private peering.  I know this will increase but
its a wait and see attitude.

I think that as the net is maturing, there are definite needs for the local
NAPs, regional NAPs and then National NAPs.  Working on a tiered approach
may be what is needed to alleviate overloads at the MAEs and evenly
distribute traffic.  However, as I stated above, for this to work,
education is the key as the local ISPs need to keep traffic local and etc.
etc. etc...

I hope that everyone doesn't mind my 1 cents worth on this thread!!!!!

Regards
Richard Mataka