The fact that a few big boys don't see value in peering is itself part of the issue with competition. More participation means better end-user service, lower cost for the providers (with content cache's obviously) and it will assist with removing traffic from having to traverse into the states and have their backwards legislation apply (yes, it does happen). I think that's part of the meaning for the security side of things.<div>
<br></div><div>The concept is great -- here's to having MBIX take off ....</div><div><br></div><div>Dan.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Jun 29, 2012 at 2:16 PM, John Lange <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:john@johnlange.ca" target="_blank">john@johnlange.ca</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">IMHO, the blog post misses the mark.<br><br>IXPs exist to peer traffic between ISPs. The reason Canada has so few IXPs, is because it has so very few "real" ISPs (and Canada has few ISPs because our telecom policy protects the existing Canadian duopoly by prohibiting foreign investment).<br>
<br>In every region in Canada there are (at best), only 2 ways to get to the internet, your Cable co, or your Telco. Everyone else is just a reseller of one of those 2 providers.<br><br>From the post: "Creating more IXPs is about improving security, speed and network
resilience, while maximizing the amount of traffic that stays within
Canada for the benefit of all Canadians."<br><br>This is
incorrect. The main motivation for setting up an IXP is cost, network
efficiency is only important to the degree that it helps reduce cost.<br><br>The main ISPs already peer, so setting up more IXPs does nothing to reduce their cost. In fact it increases their cost because they need more equipment and management etc.<br>
<br>I'm also pretty dubious about some of the other claims. Security? How does an IXP improve security? And I'd be very surprised if any Canada-to-Canada inter-ISP routing goes through the U.S so the "within Canada" statement doesn't seem a likely motivation either.<br>
<br>Don't get me wrong, I not anti IXP, I just don't see a need or a business case for it.<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br><br>John<br>
</font></span></blockquote></div><br></div>