[165000] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: How big is the Internet?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Leo Bicknell)
Thu Aug 15 10:06:45 2013
From: Leo Bicknell <bicknell@ufp.org>
In-Reply-To: <710B24A9-C5C7-4BB5-AA24-9DD325BF0F4E@ianai.net>
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 09:05:26 -0500
To: "Patrick W. Gilmore" <patrick@ianai.net>
Cc: NANOG list <nanog@nanog.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces+nanog.discuss=bloom-picayune.mit.edu@nanog.org
On Aug 14, 2013, at 3:27 PM, Patrick W. Gilmore <patrick@ianai.net> =
wrote:
> Once you define what you mean by "how bit is the Internet", I'll be =
happy to spout off about how big it is. :)
Arbitrary definition time: A Internet host is one that can send and =
receive packets directly with at least one far end device addressed out =
of RIR managed IPv4 or IPv6 space.
That means behind a NAT counts, behind a firewall counts, but a true =
private network (two PC's into an L2 switch with no other connections) =
does not, even if they use IP protocols. Note that devices behind a =
pure L3 proxy do not count, but the L3 proxy itself counts.
Now, take those Internet hosts and create a graph where each node has a =
binary state, forwards packets or does not forward packets the result is =
a set of edge nodes that do not forward packets. The simple case is an =
end user PC, the complex case may be something like a server in a data =
center that while connected to multiple networks does not forward any =
packets, and is an edge node on all of the networks to which it is =
attached.
To me, "all Internet" traffic is the sum of all "in" traffic on all edge =
nodes. Note if I did my definition carefully out =3D in - (packet loss =
+ undeliverable), which means on the scale of the global Internet I =
suspect out =3D=3D in, when rounded off.
So please, carry on and spout off as to how big that is, I think an =
estimate would be very interesting.
--=20
Leo Bicknell - bicknell@ufp.org - CCIE 3440
PGP keys at http://www.ufp.org/~bicknell/
