[afnog] IXP establishment

[Alan Levin]

Hi Anthony,

On 29 Aug 2005, at 7:51 AM, Anthony Muyepa wrote:
> Is 24 hour access to the IXP housing required? When is access  
> required, what are the policies on access to the room? Also  
> consider security issues on 24hr access.  This is one of the issues  
> that we are trying to resolve in Malawi, we are trying to establish  
> an IXP. We need more light on this, please help.

We had extensive discussions on this at the AFIX workshop in  
Botswana. There are no hard and fast rules and at the end of the day  
it is - or should be - the decision of the peers.

We did reflect on some of the lessons learned in Joburg. At JINX the  
IXP has been in a 'neutral' location as well as at well established  
ISP datacentres. The neutral location was much more expensive and had  
less benefits. We did not have the scale to make it viable to run  
that way so we have continued to host JINX at an ISP datacentre where  
there is: good connectivity for peers (to get to the IXP), redundancy  
for the peers and IXP fabric, and 24 hour access, etc.

There is an advantage to the ISP that hosts but as such they are  
willing to pay (as opposed to be paid) which is of great benefit to  
the community (as long as it doesn't result in a monopoly).

hth,

Alan