Peering Support

Public Peering on an Internet Exchange requires some resources and technical expertise. NL-ix supports customers in obtaining those resources and that expertise in cooperation with these specialists:

• The Open Peering Initiative (Autonomous Internet, Non-Stop Internet);
• BGP Expert.com (BGP4 and IPv6 specialist Iljitsch van Beijnum);
• Quanza Engineering - (Technical Infrastructure Projects);
• Falco Networks (Professional Services for the ISP market).

Peering Support includes:

RIPE AS Number and IP Addresses

For peering on an Internet Exchange an AS number and a block of Provider Independent IPv4 or IPv6 IP Adresses is required.

AS Number and IP Adresses
An globally unique AS Number identifies a network on the Internet.
For IPv4 a block of private (Provider Independent, not part of a block of different party) and globally routable (which requires at least 256 adresses) IP Address Space is required, to address (server) equipment in a network and make it available to peers.

Both the AS number and the IP addresses and supporting information (e.g. organisation and contact details) need to initially be requested and registered, and thereafter be maintained in the RIPE database. Additionally reverse DNS delegation needs to be set up (to enable number-to-name lookups).

IPv4 running out
It is currently projected that the total global unallocated IPv4 address pool (as maintained by IANA) will exhaust on October 3, 2011. The regional unallocated address pool (as for Europe maintained by RIPE) is projected to exhaust on August 18, 2012. The alternative for IPv4 is IPv6 address space.

Registration of AS numbers and IP addresses can be done be either becoming RIPE local registree (€ 2.000 initial and +/- € 1.800 per year), or more efficiently by registering via the AS Number and IP Address Space registration services of Open Peering. See our Pricing Sheet for the current charges.

16 bits AS numbers running out
The global (IANA) and regional (RIPE) unallocated 16-bits AS number pool is projected to exhaust on September 4, 2012. 16-bits AS Numbers are already very difficutl to opbtain, and by default 32 bits AS numbers are assigned now. Not all router vendors and inherently not all networks support peering with 32-bits AS numbers yet.

BGP4 Infra - router & switch hardware

For Public Peering a router is required which supports the BGP4 protocol.

BGP4 router
It is advisable a BGP4 router supports at least 500.000 BGP4 routes and has at least 1 Gigabit of internal memory. A router with less capacity may support full peering, but wil not support full Global Transit routing, requiring to fall back on less optimal BGP default routing.

There a multiple ways a BGP4 solution can be build, with different redundancy and cost features.

Non-stop
Generally it is advisable to use two BGP4 routers in a redundant 'non-stop' configuration. This also requires that, while purchasing router hardware, arrangements are made for software upgrades, software support and (24*7) hardware replacements and/or spares.

Contact us for advice, or contact any of the above mentioned specialists for more information on BGP4 routers and architectural alternatives. On the Open Peering 'router hardware' page a nice overview of different types of routers is given.

BGP4 Config - Setup and (24*7) Support

Apart from buying physical BGP4 router hardware, the router equipment also needs to be configured for peering use initially (BGP4 Setup), integrated into the rest of the network, and needs to be maintained (BGP 24*7 Support).

If you don't have the expertise to do this in-house, or want to be able to fall back on a BGP specialists. Open Peering, BGP Expert.com, Quanza and Falco all provide such services. See our Pricing Sheet for the current charges via Open Peering.

BGP4 and IPv6 Routing Courses

Even if you outsource BGP4 Setup and Support, it is still wise to build up some knowledge internally, if only to be able make the right purchasing decisions.

NL-ix offers a BGP4 Routing and a IPv6 Routing course. These Routing Courses are usefull both for beginners and moderately advanced participants. See our Pricing Sheet for the current charges.

Migration and Project Management

Especially during migration from a traditional Default Routing configuration to a Autonomous Routing configuration, many parties require more then just components: they need a Zero Risk migration guaranteed by project management services from a specialist which has guided such projects multiple times in the past.

Open Peering, BGP Expert.com, Quanza and Falco all provide such services. Contact us for advice, or contact any of the above mentioned specialists for more information.