Re: Peering Table Question

[Mike Hughes <mike () smashing net>]

On Wed, 19 Apr 2000, Jeff Lentz wrote:

> I apologize if this question is not relevant to your discussions, but
> Susan Harris, e-mail address srh () merit edu, suggested that I ask it
> here...
>
> The peering table that appears on the London Internet Exchange web site
> www.linx.net/peering.html...... is this something that can be generated
>  for different peering locations?  Also with this information would it
> be
>  possible to create a table that lists companies and the cities that
> they
>  are peering in?  Any insight would be of great help to me thank you.

The peering matrix at LINX doesn't necessarily mean that any parties shown
to peer actually do it across the LINX exchange point fabric itself, they
could be PIs anywhere in the world or peerings at other IXPs.

Why is this? Well, take a read of the footnotes:

"This table is generated from objects in the RIPE and RA databases. If
there is something missing or wrong then please refer to the original data
in the databases.

The information given here can apply to peering arrangements between
members anywhere in the world, and is not limited to the traffic flowing
through the LINX."

It's basically a script which pulls all the necessary aut-num objects from
RIPE and RADB and builds a table out of the as-in/as-out declarations.
It's just taking information which is available in the public domain (if
you know how to drive a whois client) and munging it into a tabluar form.

So, in response to JSB's comment about confidentiality of peering
arrangements: 

Yep, sure, you can be confidential about where you interconnect, at what
speed and choice of media, should you choose. But, you can't be
confidential about who you are peering with, because the RA/RIPE will tell
anyone with a bit of clue.

Unless, of course, you aren't declaring these "top secret" peerings in the
relevant routing database(s), which is probably a bad thing [tm], but
that's my personal view on it.

Also, some locations, such as LINX and PAIX, do have publically accessible
member info on their websites, so you get a good idea of who is connected
at that exchange point.

There are, as JSB suggests, plenty of tools out there to help you with
routing/peering questions.

This is me with my own hat on, BTW, not my LINX engineer hat.

Mike