Netflix transit preference?

randal k nanog at data102.com
Thu Dec 27 18:19:52 UTC 2012


Hey NANOG!
I work at a datacenter in southern Colorado that is the upstream bandwidth
provider for several regional ISPs. We have been investigating our
ever-growing bandwidth usage and have found that out of transits
(Level3,Cogent,HE) that Netflix always seems to come in via Hurricane
Electric. (We move ~1.4gbps to Netflix, and are thus not a candidate for
peering. And they have no POP close.)

I tested this by advertising a /24 across all providers, then selectively
removed the advertisement to certain carriers to see where the bandwidth
goes. In order, it appears that if there is a HE route, Netflix uses it,
period. If there isn't, it prefers Level3, and Cogent comes last.

Since Netflix is a big hunk of our bandwidth (and obviously makes our
customers happy), we are included to buy some more HE. However, if Netflix
decides that they want to randomly switch to, say, Cogent, we may be under
a year-long bandwidth contract that isn't particularly valuable anymore.

With all of that, I am interested in finding out of any knowledge about
Netflix transit preferences, be it inside information, anecdotal, or
otherwise. I did email peering@ but haven't heard back, thus the public
question.

Thanks!
Randal



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