[Outages-discussion] Internet "backbone"

[Keegan Holley]

2011/11/18 Patrick W. Gilmore <patrick at ianai.net>

> On Nov 18, 2011, at 5:47 PM, Keegan Holley wrote:
> > 2011/11/18 Patrick W. Gilmore <patrick at ianai.net>
> >> On Nov 18, 2011, at 5:09 PM, Keegan Holley wrote:
> >>
> >>> This is one of those buzzwords the was never given a real definition,
> like the concept of tier I, II and III ISP's.  I can't recall ever using
> the term internet backbone in a sentence but it does help people who may
> not understand the specifics to describe the "big pipes" that carry their
> traffic.  This industry is full of buzzwords that are no longer accurate or
> never were.  I would say anyone that carries 30G or more of transit is as
> close to being a backbone provider as it gets.  It's true that just about
> anyone can peer with anyone else directly, but most talk through the large
> ISP's so I understand why some may still use the term.
> >
> >> There are entire countries that do not have 30G of traffic.  Does that
> mean they are not on the backbone?
>
> > Maybe. I bet most of those countries transit large carriers in the US
> and/or most of their traffic is destined for them. I think the point of
> that post was that there is no such thing as a backbone.
>
> Agreed that the word "backbone" is not useful when speaking of the
> Internet.
>
>
> >> And I am not sure what you mean by "most talk through the large ISP's".
>  If you mean most traffic touches a network with 30 Gbps of traffic or
> more, well, that's kinda tautological.
> >
> > By this I meant ISP's with a large number of peerings since it would be
> in lieu of peering with a large number of AS's yourself.  They are one in
> the same in alot of cases, but no it's not tied only to traffic.
>
> I'm afraid that did not clear it up for me.  I _think_ you mean most
> people "talk through" networks with 30 Gbps or more.  While that is true,
> it is like saying "most traffic goes through the collection of networks
> that have most of the traffic".  As I said, tautological.
>

To put it in simple terms most of the companies or even end users that need
to talk to a particular entity buy transit from a big, usually very big
ISP.  So if you want netflix, facebook, google, and itunes you don't go buy
a router and try to peer with those companies from your house you go get
DSL, or cable internet.  If a company wants to connect to other companies
via the internet or some sort of secure tunnel they do the same.  The
majority don't run connections to those companies they just peer with a
couple of ISP's.  Certain companies have become internet "hubs" if you
will, adding to the backbone myth.

>
> --
> TTFN,
> patrick
>
>
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