IGF Session 2015
Internet Exchange Points are a well-established concept and there is a substantial body of expertise on Best Practices and the characteristics of local environments that are conducive to the formation and success of IXPs within the IXP operator community. This knowledge is not evenly distributed, and some stakeholders have expressed a need for wider awareness raising. The aim of this BPF is therefore to help make that knowledge more widely available, and to assist interested parties in discovering how to access community knowledge, rather than developing new concepts.
IXPs are a critical part of local Internet infrastructure: a physical location where different IP networks meet to exchange traffic with each other. Yet, only about half of all countries in the world have an IXP. As countries establish IXPs, more local Internet traffic is exchanged and routed locally, creating downward pressure on costs, decreasing latency, and stimulating growth and distribution of local Internet content. A critical by-product of an IXP is that local technical expertise is enhanced as operators learn how to manage and upgrade an IXP’s infrastructure. As part of developing a local Internet ecosystem, IXPs play an important role and help enable collaborative stakeholder engagement. Policy-makers and other governmental stakeholders are important partners in IXP development and can help champion IXPs.
The BPF on IXPs is coordinated by community members Gaël Hernández, Malcolm Hutty and Désirée Zachariah, supported by a consultant engaged by the IGF Secretariat, Wim Degezelle.