Benefits and Value of an IXP

1. Benefits and Value of an IXP The IXP Value Proposition

2. SHORT AND LONG TERM BENEFITS OF AN IXP

3. Benefits of IXPs: Short Term • Substantial cost-savings are made by eliminating the need to put all traffic through the more expensive long-distance links to the rest of the world. • More bandwidth becomes available for local users because of the lower costs of local capacity. • Local links are often up to 10 times faster because of the reduced latency in traffic, which makes fewer hops to get to its destination. • Connecting to an IXP requires knowledge of BGP and acquiring Internet Address resources (IP Addresses and Autonomous System Numbers). The process requires building technical capacity of the engineers to master and support interconnection. • Increased autonomy: in many instances, outages on submarine or satellite connectivity impair national and regional connectivity. IXPs eliminate the dependency on International connectivity for local communication which results in a robust and reliable local internet infrastructure

4. Benefits of IXPs: Long Term • Create Internet opportunities like the growth of carrier neutral data centres and maturing of the local hosting market • The ease of access of locally hosted content through the IXP encourages and promotes creation of local content. For instance, the implementation of Government e-services is a form of local content that can be locally accessed via the IXP. • New local content providers and services, that rely on high-speed low-cost connections become available, further benefiting from the broader user-base available via the IXP. • More choices for Internet providers become available on which to send upstream traffic to the rest of the Internet—contributing to a smoother and more competitive wholesale transit market.

5. INCREASING THE IXP VALUE

6. IXP Business Model Importance of Business Model Developing IXP Business Model The IXP Business model is largely dependent on the members agreement. The main revenue source for IXP is based on port fee charges. Most startup IXPs charge a flat rate per port regardless of port speed. As the IXP grows, port speed charges are considered to grow the revenue needed to address the capacity requirements. • Voluntary support does not scale. Therefore, in order to provide high value IXP services a business model is necessary. • A business model supports operational and growth requirements such as hiring of relevant staff to manage and operate the IXP, buying/replacing equipment, etc • A sustainable IXP instills confidence in new and existing membership • Enables the IXP to engage in other membership benefits activities such as organizing capacity building workshops

7. Value Add: Growing Critical Mass Opening an IXP to non-traditional members: Which IXP would you prefer to Peer? • E- Government Services such as Customs, immigration, Examinations, etc. • National Research and Education Network (NRENs) • Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) Registries • Content Providers such as, IP-TV providers, VoIP providers, etc • Mobile network providers offering 2G/3G and LTE services • Banking for online banking Services

8. Value Add: CDN Edge Caching Value of CDN Edge Caching Impact of CDN Cache at KIXP • Content Distribution Networks (CDN) aim to deliver your content to visitors as quickly as possible • Edge Caching takes this concept one step further by geographically placing servers closer to users. • Edge caches are often placed close to IXPs to target the large concentration of user networks (or eyeball networks) • Google’s Global Cache (GGC) program is one of the successful programs that IXPs can consider to implement in partnership with their members Prolonged GGC Outage

9. Value Add: Complementing Services Impact of K-Root Server Instance at TIXP Additional services that increase value of the IXP are; • Domain Name System (DNS) Root Server Instances • DNS Root servers instances at an IXP help improve the resilience of the local internet. • Network Time Server • Implementing a stratum 1 clock using GPS is a simple and effective way of providing NTP services at the IXP. • Looking Glass • Looking glass is an important troubleshooting tool. It also collects data that is of interest to researchers. • Route Server • Simplifies the setup for most new entrants at an IXP. • Routing Registry • IXP Routing Registry is a useful tool that assists members configure their IXP interconnection.

10. DNS Root-Server Instance: Before ISP B Internet Cloud Gateway IXP Root Server ISP A • Most Internet services such as email and web depend on the DNS • The Apex of the DNS is the Root • Absence of a local Root Server means continued dependence on International connectivity for these Internet services

11. DNS Root-Server Instance: After ISP B Internet Cloud Gateway IXP Root Server Local Root Server ISP A • Autonomy due to reduced dependence on International connectivity for local communications • Faster DNS response times improves user experience • Improved resilience encourages local hosting.

12. Acknowledgement and Attribution This presentation contains content and information originally developed and maintained by the following organisation(s) http://www.internetsociety.org http://www.euro-ix.net

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