the Internet Backbone

Fri Apr 5 18:12:33 UTC 1996

Well, connecting to an Internet backbone and having your own nationalwide backbone
are two different things. 

It is even extremely difficult to define what is Internet backbone. Are MCI and Sprint
connected to backbone? I think that not only they are, they also have their own 
DS3 backbone. 

Is company like Aimnet connected to backbone? Well, we have DS3s to PacBell NAP
and MAE West, and of course think that we are connected to backbone although 
we do not have our own backbone. But we do not claim that we have Internet backbone. 

Hong
Aimnet

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  > At 10:32 AM 4/5/96, William Allen Simpson wrote:
  > >> From: Avi Freedman <freedman at netaxs.com>
  > >>...
  > >> Everyone (of importance) agrees that in order to claim you're a backbone
  > >> you have to (now, not a year ago) be connected to at least 2 public NAPs/MAEs
  > >> and have at least one circuit that runs at DS3 or higher speed.
  > >>
  > >No, that is not correct.
  > >
  > >A US Internet "backbone" is one which connects to ALL the NAP/MAEs in
  > >the US.  Not just two.  All of them.
  > 
  > Bill,
  >  
  >      I'm not sure that's a viable definition.   First, the number of MAE's 
  >      seems to be increasing withou bound, and secondly, there are points
  >      that you don't want to connect due to their performance.  Finally, is 
  >      "connecting" considered the same as "peering"?
  > 
  > /John
  > 
  > 
  > 
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