Internet Exchange Points IXPs Access Catalysts in Developing Countries

1
Internet Exchange Points (IXPs)Access Catalysts
in Developing Countries

• Michuki Mwangi
• Senior Education Manager
• ISOC
• Advisory Council Meeting, IETF 74
• San Francisco, CA,
• 27th March 2009

2
Background

• IXPs
• Reduce costs by eliminating the sending of local
  traffic via expensive international links
• Reduce delays in accessing local content,
  improving quality of service
• Improve resilience of the local Internet
  infrastructure
• Stimulates the creation of local content
• In sum, IXPs are key infrastructure, but many
  developing countries lack them

3
IXP Project for 2009 Focuses on Africa

• Limited cross border interconnections
• Least served by international fiber optic
  submarine cables
• Pricing for cable connectivity is higher than
  alternative options i.e Satellite
• Satellites have diminished focus on the need for
  solid terrestrial infrastructure
• Local content is hosted externally, little
  incentive for local hosting providers,
  compounding the problem
• The existing IXPs are struggling to create a
  broader impact within their regions
• Technical, operational, and policy education
  would have a positive effect

4
IXPs in Africa
18 IXPs in 16 African countries Source
www.nsrc.org
5
Traffic Distribution across 10 IXPs in Africa
Total traffic is about 10 of LINX
6
Project Scope

• 4 complementing programs based on the stage and
  requirements of each country
• Value Adding Services
• Technical Capacity Building
• New IXP Implementations
• Building IXP Opps Communities and Forums
• Project collaboration is key to success
• Several partners have been identified and new
  ones being sought

7
The Programs

• Value Adding Services
• Technical Capacity Building
• New IXP Implementations
• Building IXP Forums

8
Value Adding Services

• At least 66 of the IXPs in Africa have a form
  of value adding services
• Only 3 have considerable value added services i.e
  Root-Servers, NTP, IPv6 and NTP
• The remaining 44 were looking at deployments in
  the near future.

9
Value Adding Services

• Improve participation at existing IXPs
• Attract regional interconnections
• Results in enhanced resilience and stability of
  the local and regional infrastructure
• Areas of Focus are in the implementations of
• Root-Server
• Looking glass and Measurements
• NTP, AS112 FTP Mirrors

10
Root Servers

• In collaboration with AfriNIC and Root-Server
  operators (F, K, J and L Root)
• Initial workshop brining together Root Server
  operators and African IXP operators was held in
  Cairo 2008
• Currently in discussion with Mozambique (MOZIX)
  and Tanzania (TIXP)

11
Looking Glass and Measurements

• Looking glass or Route-Servers provide a source
  of information for Technical Community and
  Researchers
• IXPs are a unique central point to collect
  meaningful data on usage, growth, etc.
• In the process of identifying additional partners
  to AfriNIC namely Ripe NCC and Routeviews.org

12
NTP, AS112 and FTP Mirrors

• NTP, AS112, and FTP Mirrors are the least
  deployed within African IXPs
• Will increasingly add value to the critical
  infrastructure
• Looking to identify potential partners
• Suggestions welcome.

13
The Programs

• Value Adding Services
• Technical Capacity Building
• New IXP Implementations
• Building IXP Forums

14
Technical Capacity Building

• Aimed at developing technical skills for
  operating and managing IXP peering and
  interconnections
• Both new and established IXPs
• Gear contribution from Cisco Systems to create a
  training kit
• Will also train NREN community on Peering and
  Interconnections
• 5 trainings are currently planned in Kenya,
  Malawi, Ghana, Mali, Senegal in 2009

15
The Programs

• Value Adding Services
• Technical Capacity Building
• New IXP Implementations
• Building IXP Forums

16
New IXP Implementations

• Only 29 of countries in Africa have IXPs
• Lots of work to be done
• Cisco has generously contributed gear to help
  start up new IXPs
• Working on the setup of IXP in Sierra Leone
• ISOC Project Funding Recipient
• Discussions ongoing with Seychelles, Senegal,
  Burundi, Namibia amongst others.

17
The Programs

• Value Adding Services
• Technical Capacity Building
• New IXP Implementations
• Building IXP Forums

18
Build IXP Forums

• Aimed at ensuring the IXP operators have a forum
  for
• Collaboration
• Best Practice Sharing
• Technical Capacity Development
• The objective is to catalyze IXP growth and
  development in the region
• ISOC partnering with AfriNIC and AfNOG
• NAPLA IXP forum in Latin America is the model
• Model could possibly be replicated in other
  regions like Asia Pacific

19
Questions Discussion?

• Michuki Mwangi
• mwangi_at_isoc.org

19