[165234] in North American Network Operators' Group
RE: Vancouver IXP - VanTX - BCNet
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Hay, Marilyn)
Tue Aug 27 07:46:57 2013
From: "Hay, Marilyn" <marilyn.hay@ubc.ca>
To: "'nanog@nanog.org'" <nanog@nanog.org>
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 20:13:22 +0000
In-Reply-To: <CF3C66A5DB184445AE42748BFA64AAA1013BCB0BF770@MBX01.cira1.cira.ca>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces+nanog.discuss=bloom-picayune.mit.edu@nanog.org
I'll offer some perspective from BCNET on this discussion.
BCNET has operated Exchange services in British Columbia for many years how=
ever the peering has primarily been a multilateral service and not advertis=
ed as what is considered a typical IX. BCNET is a not-for-profit consortiu=
m for BC post-secondary and research institutions and a small membership fe=
e with BCNET was required to join. Our exchanges were called Transit Excha=
nges and participants have certainly benefited from the peering and have si=
gnificantly lowered their Transit costs. =20
On reviewing this about a year ago, BCNET decided that it was time to look =
at getting a more typical bi-lateral IXP co-ordinated in Vancouver. In the=
global Internet scene, Vancouver is not a huge traffic generator but is a =
very important location in Canada for interconnecting. At about the same t=
ime, other efforts were underway such as in Montreal to re-establish the QI=
X, Winnipeg and Calgary to startup, and CIRA raising the general awareness =
that there was a shortage of IXPs across Canada.
These are all great efforts and require the community ISP support to make t=
hem successful. We are working towards this in Vancouver for an open excha=
nge, shared layer 2 switch fabric, bi-lateral peerings, and community drive=
n. Some organization does need to operate a site and the suggestion we hav=
e on the table is for BCNET to be the operator of a BC Internet Exchange, B=
CIX. BCNET has been a network-neutral player in advanced networks since 1=
988 and we promote fair and accessible access to everyone. We have also di=
scussed opportunities with Peer1 and their local PIX services relative to t=
he BCIX and we will have to see where that leads. =20
A Town Hall to discuss this with the community is scheduled for September 2=
6 and all local ISPs and any other interested parties are welcome to attend=
. The Town Hall will be the driver for what happens next. The general an=
nouncements of the time and location are scheduled to come out the first we=
ek of September. CIRA has been very helpful with us in scheduling and co-o=
rdinating this effort - thanks Jacques.
Thanks all for this great discussion topic. Take care,
Marilyn Hay
UBC, Manager Network Planning
BCNET, Manager Network Engineering
604.822.4127
-----Original Message-----
From: Jacques Latour [mailto:jacques.latour@cira.ca]=20
Sent: Friday, August 23, 2013 10:31 AM
To: Bill Reid; nanog@nanog.org
Subject: RE: Vancouver IXP - VanTX - BCNet
...
Note: CIRA's job is not to go in and put a switch and leave. CIRA works wi=
th the community to get the IXP up and running. We have criteria to partic=
ipate, the IXP must be a member based, vendor neutral non-profit organizat=
ion with a viable trusted community to operate and sustain an IXP. CIRA is=
acting as a catalyst, not a doer. The community is the doer. =20
...
