Even though peering saves ISPs money there are costs involved. While the peering point is not operated for profit it requires money for rent, power, a rack to hold the routers, an ethernet switch etc. To cover these costs most peering points levy a fee with the amount decided upon by the member ISPs. To get an idea of the costs, WAIX charge a $500 setup fee and $150 a month thereafter. How much a Gold Coast peering point would charge will depend on what the members feel appropriate.
The peering point provides each ISP with an ethernet connection but it is up to the member ISP to connect their network to the ethernet. How they choose to do this is entirely up to them and so the cost of the connection can vary quite significantly. Common methods include PAPL, DDS, Spread Spectrum Radio, ISDN, frame relay, microwave, laser and carrier pigeon. Luckily peering points are usually fairly close to the ISPs and so connection fees can be kept low. The ISP has to provide the equipment for both ends...for example if you are connecting via PAPL you will need 2 PAPL modems and a router to place at the peering point. Sometimes 2 small ISPs will join together and share a router.
For a summary of the various methods, including costs, see the FAQ for connecting to WAIX.
There are two sides to a peering point - the physical and the social. The physical includes all the hardware, the rack, the switch, the UPS etc. The social includes all organisational things, how decisions are made, who can join etc. Both sides are just as important as the other and some things, such as where the peering point should be located, lies in both the physical and social (or should I say political) realm.
A physical location for the peering point is required. There are a number of things to be considered when choosing a location:
To give an idea of how much space is required the Sydney peering point is using 2 racks (a list of people peering there is available), but would prefer to be using 4 to allow for more ventilation. Obviously Sydney is much bigger than the Gold Coast but future expansion should be allowed for.
A number of places have already been suggested to me. Any decision will be up to the ISPs who form the peering point but these places may be worth thinking about.
| The 3rd Party Room in the AAPT Phone Exchange | |
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This is where the peering points in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane are located. |
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| Advantages | Power supply is excellent (24/7). Its secure and 24hr access is possible. Air conditioning is provided and there is a raised floor. Telco access is superb. CCA are located in the same building so any ISP buying transit from them need not have 2 links. Access to AAPT's frame relay network is very easy if it was later decided to join AusBone (who connect via AAPT frame relay). |
| Disadvantages | The above description refers to the Sydney AAPT exchange. I'm not sure if Southport even has one. Does anyone know? Where is CCA located on the Gold Coast? Mail me. Rent is fairly high and is charged by the rack. |
| A Building in Southport | |
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Someone has offered room for the peering point in a (non computer) business in Southport. |
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| Advantages | Rent would be low. It is a central location very near the Telstra exchange, 24hr access should be possible. |
| Disadvantages | None. |
| Griffith University | |
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It was suggested by a member of GU staff that the uni may be willing to host the peering point. |
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| Advantages | 24 hour access shouldn't be a problem. There are permanent security guards. The power supply should be good and air conditioning is present. Telco access shouldn't be a problem and it is (I would imagine) fairly close to most people. It has a radio tower already built for people wanting to use radio to connect. The rent should be markedly cheaper than AAPT and it has also been suggested that bandwidth on the University's 155Mb/s ATM link to Brisbane may be available quite cheaply if the peering point ever wanted to peer with the Brisbane Internet Exchange. Being located there should also guarantee GU's presence at the peering point and may encourage Bond to peer also. GU is also likely to be there for quite some time so there are no worries about having to move the peering point if a lease expires. GU is independent of any ISP. |
| Disadvantages | Griffith University is a large organisation and may take time to approve or disapprove any requests. |
An ethernet switch will be required. 10Mb/s will be fine but 100Mb/s may be an idea to cover future expansion. A switch that can keep statistics on traffic could prove useful.
Any rack will do but preferably one with shelving to cope with all the non-rack-mountable equipment.
If the peering point wanted to have news/quake/DNS/IRC servers then it will require hardware. It will also require the servers to be configured and maintained. The member ISPs will have to decide what arrangements will be made. I would just like to add a plug for FreeBSD at this point and say what a great job it would do :-)
Depending on the power arrangements at the building one or many UPSs may be required.
A lot of organisational matters must be decided before a peering point can be constructed. That includes:
All these things (and no doubt more) will need to be decided and written down before anything physical happens.