Two topics: Evolution of peering at LINX and Establishing UKNOF

1. Two topics:Evolution of peering at LINXandEstablishing UKNOF John SouterChief Executive Officer, LINXMay 2008

2. LINX History (the beginning) • Established in October 1994 • Objective: • to keep UK traffic in UK • Character: • co-operation amongst competitors • Housed independently: • Telehouse in Docklands • Status (early days): • basically a ‘closed club’

3. LINX History (transition to open) • LINX rules required you to be an ISP with transatlantic bandwidth • The latter part was dropped…. • …then the BBC joined • Big debate about content vs ‘eyeball’ networks ensued • Rules were changed to allow anyone to join who has: • an ASN and BGP ‘clue’

4. LINX History (the ‘schism’) • We survived a significant de-mutualisation attempt in mid-2000 • The LINX Board were concerned that we could not finance future engineering needs • Venture capital had been secured to finance privatisation of LINX • Members were offered a sum for ‘buy out’ • Members roundly rejected the idea in a vote • The same VC money was then used to set up a commercial competitor to LINX • That competitor (Exchange Point) finally failed a couple of years ago

5. 280+ members, growth accelerating Completely open, the only rules are technical ones Maintaining the mutual company model “Not open to capture” Points of presence in 7 sites throughoutLondon Docklands 3 new PoPs opening in 2008 Extensive & diverse multi-vendor dark fibre network LINX History (today)

6. LINX member types: ISPs & telcos Academic networks Hosting companies Content providers CDNs Gaming companies Gambling companies Streaming media DDoS mitigation eCommerce companies Enterprise … LINX member countries (43!): UK, Western Europe, USA & Canada were starting points Far East (Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore) Eastern Europe & Russia South Africa Middle East (Qatar, UAE) Iceland India Indonesia Bhutan! (and of course, 4 in Italy ) New types/locations of members

7. Membership & traffic growth

8. Route servers IXP web-site facilities Social networking Member meetings Peering fora ‘Endorsements’ process @ LINX (you can’t do too much) Facilitating peering

9. Questions about LINX?

10. 2nd topic: Establishing UKNOF

11. LINX quarterly member meetings • We hold 4 main meetings per year • Attendance varies from 70-120 people • At least 2 ‘constitutional meetings’ year • Members vote on the budget • Members vote on MoU changes • Members elect their (non-executive) Board • Format is usually one and a half days • Mixture of peering facilitation, technical, commercial & regulatory affairs content • We just had LINX61  • (we also web-cast the meetings) • Closed to members, prospects & guests

12. UK Network Operators' Forum • Founded in 2005 • Brainchild of Keith Mitchell • Acts as an open forum for operational, technical and engineering information exchange related to backbone networking technologies and practices • http://www.uknof.org.uk/

13. Objectives of UKNOF • To improve technical co-ordination between IP network operators within the United Kingdom • To enhance the efficiency and stability of the UK's network infrastructure • To allow engineers to share knowledge and best practice for network operations and security • To create an OPEN environment with participation available to all players in the industry: large and small, established and innovative • A minimum of three UKNOF events will be held annually

14. Funding council: “Subscriber Sponsors” (including LINX) They underwrite UKNOF's activities on an annual basis (my idea ) Relieves the pressure to rely on direct meeting sponsorship Good role for an IXP! Meetings & working groups Programme committee Mailing list UKNOF activities & funding

15. UKNOF10 agenda & closing thoughts • Final thoughts: • Quite well established now • 10 meetings held • Meetings are free • Attendance is good • Mailing list is a bit quiet • I think this model would work in other countries 

16. Questions about UKNOF?