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November 1999

The Internet in the UK

The Internet in the UK

Keith Mitchellkeith@linx.org

Executive Chairman

http://www.linx.net/

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The Internet in the UKThe Internet in the UK

History

Organisation

Infrastructure

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November 1999

HistoryHistory

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History 1990-92History 1990-92

Pre-1990 (ARPAnet)University College London

Military

1991UK Internet Consortium

UKERNA JIPS project

1992PIPEX, Demon, UKnet

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History 1993-95 History 1993-95

1994BTnet

LINX established

around 50 ISPs

1995ISPA established

vPoPs

>100 ISPs

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History 1996-97History 1996-97

19960845 dial-up access

Nominet, Internet Watch established

1997MaNAP

~300 ISPs

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History 1998-99History 1998-99

1998FreeServe

BTclick

19991 in 5 people have Internet access

ScotIX

0800 ISPs

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OrganisationsOrganisations

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UK Internet Industry OrganisationsUK Internet Industry Organisations

Exchange Points

Associations

Registries

Self-regulators

Forums etc

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Organisation PrinciplesOrganisation Principles

Neutral facilities

management

operation

Public companies limited by guarantee

World-class facilities

“Natural” national monopolies should be: not for profit

efficient

accountable

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UK Internet Exchange PointsUK Internet Exchange Points

LINXLondon 87 members

LoNAP www.lonap.netLondon 20 members

MaNAP www.manap.netManchester 17 members

ScotIX www.scotix.netEdinburgh 9 members

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LINX StatusLINX Status

Established Oct 94 by 5 member ISPs

Now 87 members at least 1 new member every month

UK, European, International members

Not-for profit association of ISPs

Neutral locations in London Docklands Telehouse

TeleCity

others to follow

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LINX ObjectivesLINX Objectives

1 “To provide efficient interconnectivity

for the UK Internet” Aim to keep 100% of UK Internet traffic in the UK

LINX handles about 80-90% of UK peering traffic

Increasingly keeping European traffic in Europe

2 “To promote the interests of its members” Only done on specific issues, and where there is

formal approval of a strong consensus among members.

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LINX MembershipLINX Membership

Restricted to ISPs - definition:Symmetric Global Routing

More than one connection to rest of Internet

own “Autonomous System”

Sell Internet service

Member of Regional Internet Registry at least /19 = 8192 IP addresses

Publish contact info

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LINX “Non-Core” ActivitiesLINX “Non-Core” Activities

Law Enforcement Crime, Interception, Privacy, Crypto

Content Regulation IWF Funding and Oversight

Telecoms Regulation Non-lobbying

UBM (“Spam”) Regulation Unsolicited Bulk Messaging

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Internet Service Providers AssociationInternet Service Providers Association

Trade Association

Over 100 members

www.ispa.org.uk

ISPs, Web designers, lawyers

Council & secretariat

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ISPA ActivitiesISPA Activities

Promotes self-regulation:IWF funding and oversight

Member Code of Practice

Founder member of EuroISPAwww.euroispa.org

Government lobbying and liasion

Awards & events

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Internet Watch FoundationInternet Watch Foundation

Funded by: LINX, ISPA, Large ISPs directly

EU Commission

www.iwf.org.uk

Provides hotline for notification and takedown of illegal content

Partner in INCORE, ICRA content rating projects

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Name & Number RegistriesName & Number Registries

Nominet UK (Oxford).uk domain names

CENTR (Oxford)Association of European TLD

(Top-Level Domain) registries

RIPE NCC (Amsterdam)Allocates IP addresses to over 1500

members in 90 European+ countries

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NominetNominet

Operates central facilities providing Domain Names ending in .uk

www.nominet.org.uk

Over 1500 members provide service to end-users: ISPs

Web/content providers

IPR lawyers

Currently registering ~100,000 domains/month

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Forums & Other BodiesForums & Other Bodies

Internet Crime Forumformerly ACPO/ISP/Govt forum

Internet User Privacy Forumwww.iupf.org

Internet Society Chapterswww.england.isoc.org

www.scotland.isoc.org

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InfrastructureInfrastructure

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TerminologyTerminology

“Transit”one ISP buys connectivity to whole of

rest of Internet from another larger one

“Peering”two ISPs exchange routes and traffic

for their customers only

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UK InfrastructureUK Infrastructure

About 150-200 UK ISPs buy transit from less than 100 who lease international circuits from IFL providers

Most of these have nxE3/STM1 capacity to major US ISPs and/or exchange points

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LINX Members by CountryLINX Members by Country

SE3

BE1

UK37

CH2

DK1FR

4IE3

NL6

DE9

US10 Global

11 Total = 87

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UK InfrastructureUK Infrastructure

Most UK ISPs have few backbone nodes, buy virtual PoPs from OLO 0845 providers

Much infrastructure concentrated in Telehouse, Docklandsover 6000 routers in one building !

but co-location provider market burgeoninge.g. TeleCity, Redbus, IX Europe

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Internet Traffic EconomicsInternet Traffic Economics

Peering commonly, but not exclusively:takes place at exchange points

is on non-settlement basis

In general between ISPs:A announces routes B

B sends traffic A’s customers

A makes payment B

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LINX Traffic (Nov 99)LINX Traffic (Nov 99)

Total inbound=outbound traffic900 Mb/s average

1300 Mb/s peak

Doubles every 4 months

Routing table (24%)16,000 out of 70,000 global routes

about 10% growth in 6 months

http://www2.linx.net/info/

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LINX Statistics (Nov 99)LINX Statistics (Nov 99)

One of 6 biggest Internet Exchange Points in World

Reflects strength of UK Internet industry

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TLD Name ServersTLD Name Servers

Name Service for Top-Level Domains

All in LINX neutral AS

k.root-servers.netoperated with RIPE NCC

secondary for “.” domain

12 in world, one of 3 outside US

“.uk” primariesoperated with NOMINET

LINX represented on ICANN RSSAC