BE prepared for a new Internet buzzword in coming years – peering.Demand on Internet bandwidth will continue to increase as more users (and providers) rely on large telcos’ data cables for transmission.
BE prepared for a new Internet buzzword in coming years – peering.
Demand on Internet bandwidth will continue to increase as more users (and providers) rely on large telcos’ data cables for transmission. Peering – where data providers share a single point of presence to share information, rather than sending data into the ether of Internet connection paths – looks set to increase as commercial and bandwidth pressure mounts.
Pioneered in WA in 1997 by the WA Internet Association, the Western Australian Internet Exchange (WAIX) was first reported in Business News in April 2001 and is still making more than a splash locally. Recently, data moving through the exchange (thanks to more members opting to share more data direct) topped 10,000,000 megabytes (supposedly enough to fill a pile of data CDs 22 metres high).
Why has it been such a success? When data moves across the world at lightning speed and the cost of moving it is relatively cheap for the user, what advantage can Perth’s biggest ISPs have by investing in a room full of routers that speak directly to each other?
It turns out there’s a big difference, according to WAIA spokesperson Kimberley Heitman.
“Apart from saving costs of data transfers between Perth networks, it had the benefit of promoting content services in WA by making them relatively cheap and fast compared to eastern states’ networks,” Ms Heitman said.
“WAIX established a point to which members could peer with each other, minimising the amount of traffic passing between members, which is currently routed via the eastern states and being charged for by upstream carriers.”
And those savings, it turns out, are tangible.
“From the outset, the costs to Perth ISPs of connecting to WAIX were re-covered within weeks,” Ms Heitman said. “This resulted in faster and cheaper Internet access via Perth connections. At the time, Telstra data charges were 20 or 22 cents per megabyte. Networks connected to WAIX were able to exchange data at near-zero cost.
“In the early days, ISPs were advised to expect between seven and 14 kilobytes per second traffic from WAIX. This has now grown to an average of about 1024Kbps.”
And if WAIX sounds like the perfect way to thumb our collective noses at the big guys in telecommunications, be aware there’s nothing stopping the ‘evil empire’ of telecommunications (and its ilk) from get-ting on board and saving money too.
“While commercial providers also deliver services to Perth ISPs, the needs of the community require that these are delivered in co-operation with WAIX rather than in a competitive environment,” Ms Heitman said.
“WAIX lowers the cost of delivering data and these savings exist for even the largest of carriers.”
In fact, there’s scope to use the system to bring east and west closer together.
“WAIA has actively investigated options to connect to peering exchanges outside WA since its inception,” Ms Heitman said. “And as transmission costs go down, the economic advantages of expansion will become justified. Already WAIX allows alternate Internet paths to the major carrier links, so Perth ISPs get greater protection against cable damage across the Nullarbor.”
So if you think the WA Government (through ServiceNet), most of the WA ISP market and, more recently COMindico – which peer its entire Australian network with WAIX and delivers about 10 per cent of all WAIX traffic – can’t possibly be wrong, you’re not alone.
Demand on Internet bandwidth will continue to increase as more users (and providers) rely on large telcos’ data cables for transmission. Peering – where data providers share a single point of presence to share information, rather than sending data into the ether of Internet connection paths – looks set to increase as commercial and bandwidth pressure mounts.
Pioneered in WA in 1997 by the WA Internet Association, the Western Australian Internet Exchange (WAIX) was first reported in Business News in April 2001 and is still making more than a splash locally. Recently, data moving through the exchange (thanks to more members opting to share more data direct) topped 10,000,000 megabytes (supposedly enough to fill a pile of data CDs 22 metres high).
Why has it been such a success? When data moves across the world at lightning speed and the cost of moving it is relatively cheap for the user, what advantage can Perth’s biggest ISPs have by investing in a room full of routers that speak directly to each other?
It turns out there’s a big difference, according to WAIA spokesperson Kimberley Heitman.
“Apart from saving costs of data transfers between Perth networks, it had the benefit of promoting content services in WA by making them relatively cheap and fast compared to eastern states’ networks,” Ms Heitman said.
“WAIX established a point to which members could peer with each other, minimising the amount of traffic passing between members, which is currently routed via the eastern states and being charged for by upstream carriers.”
And those savings, it turns out, are tangible.
“From the outset, the costs to Perth ISPs of connecting to WAIX were re-covered within weeks,” Ms Heitman said. “This resulted in faster and cheaper Internet access via Perth connections. At the time, Telstra data charges were 20 or 22 cents per megabyte. Networks connected to WAIX were able to exchange data at near-zero cost.
“In the early days, ISPs were advised to expect between seven and 14 kilobytes per second traffic from WAIX. This has now grown to an average of about 1024Kbps.”
And if WAIX sounds like the perfect way to thumb our collective noses at the big guys in telecommunications, be aware there’s nothing stopping the ‘evil empire’ of telecommunications (and its ilk) from get-ting on board and saving money too.
“While commercial providers also deliver services to Perth ISPs, the needs of the community require that these are delivered in co-operation with WAIX rather than in a competitive environment,” Ms Heitman said.
“WAIX lowers the cost of delivering data and these savings exist for even the largest of carriers.”
In fact, there’s scope to use the system to bring east and west closer together.
“WAIA has actively investigated options to connect to peering exchanges outside WA since its inception,” Ms Heitman said. “And as transmission costs go down, the economic advantages of expansion will become justified. Already WAIX allows alternate Internet paths to the major carrier links, so Perth ISPs get greater protection against cable damage across the Nullarbor.”
So if you think the WA Government (through ServiceNet), most of the WA ISP market and, more recently COMindico – which peer its entire Australian network with WAIX and delivers about 10 per cent of all WAIX traffic – can’t possibly be wrong, you’re not alone.