[arin-ppml] Draft Policy ARIN-2024-4: Internet Exchange Point Definition

[William Herrin]

On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 9:24 PM Martin Hannigan <hannigan at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, May 22, 2024 at 5:07 PM Tyler O'Meara via ARIN-PPML <arin-ppml at arin.net> wrote:
>> Overall I support this change, but I have a few nitpicks:
>>
>> 1) We should only include abbreviations/other names for the term if they're
>> actually used in the NRPM; I think future text that uses this definition would
>> be clearer if we selected a single acronym.
>
> But that's not the way the real world works. All the acronyms are in use unfortunately.

Then you spell out the acronym first. What is NAP? Is it Network
Access Point? If it's not even obvious to someone like me, the text
needs work.


>> 2) I would remove the reference to Ethernet (or provide it as an example); we
>> shouldn't prescribe what L2 switching technology gets used by the IXP
>
> Open IX OIX-1, an ANSI standard, prescribes ethernet for IX's and https://github.com/peeringdb/peeringdb/issues/1555
> There's pretty much a slammed door on the idea that a router is an IX as well.

To hell with 'em. We're defining IXP for the purpose of qualification
for IP addresses. It shouldn't prescribe a particular interconnection
technology. Seriously: we're prescribing ethernet but not BGP? That's
nutty.

I'd rewrite it as:

An Internet Exchange Point (IXP), also known as an Exchange Point,
Internet Exchange, IX, or Network Access Point (NAP), is a shared,
physical, network fabric used by three or more autonomous systems for
the exchange of data destined for and between their respective
networks. This typically involves reciprocal BGP peering across one or
more Ethernet switches in a single locality.

Regards,
Bill Herrin


-- 
William Herrin
bill at herrin.us
https://bill.herrin.us/