Re: Private and Public Peering

[Scott Marcus <smarcus () genuity com>]

At 21:42 06/18/2000 -0700, Steve Feldman wrote:
> The closest to a real distinction that I've been able to come
> up with is whether or not a third party is involved
> *and* whether packets (or cells) are switched.
>
> For example, peering through a FDDI, Ethernet, or ATM switch
> is always called "public" (unless perhaps the switch is
> owned by one of the peers).  And peering through a wire or
> SONET/SDH circuit seems to always be called private,
> even though the data might pass through SONET/SDH
> multiplexers, cross-connects, and switches operated by
> a third party...


Steve, this happens to be true in most cases, but I would view it as being
sort of coincidental.

What most people term "public peering" is effected at a public traffic
interchange point, where many providers appear, or can choose to appear.
Note that the decision whether to interconnect is still, in almost all
cases, a bilateral business decision between each pair of providers.  The
word "public" is thus something of a misnomer.

It's usually implemented over FDDI, ATM, whatever, because the traffic
interchange point needs to implement any-to-any connectivity.  That's a
matter of engineering practicality, but the definition should not rest on it.

What most people mean by "private peering" is a direct interconnection
between two providers.  That's most often implemented over a circuit
between the two, without either deploying equipment to the other's
premises; again, however, that's simply a matter of engineering
convenience.  These connections are conceptually point-to-point.

Hope this was helpful,
- Scott