Evolution #3 - Large Scale Network Savvy Content Providers Peer with Cable Companies
The peering of the Network Savvy Large Scale Content Companies with the Cable Companies put the most popular content on the Internet directly onto the same network as the broadband eyeballs. The end result was a major disruption in the Internet Ecosystem, resulting in network performance improvements and significant cost savings from peering!
Notes from the field.
We Expect Customers to Peer When Rational
I spent some time speaking with the Tier 1 ISPs at the time, asking about the massive migration of their customer traffic. Their response was that they expected it would happen. “We expect our customers will do that which is rational.”
And the middle of the Internet Peering Ecosystem got a little bit fatter as shown in Figure 10-5.
This represents a significant dynamic shift in the peering ecosystem since the Tier 1 ISPs are being cut out of a high volume traffic exchange loop. The hierarchy of the Basic Internet Peering Ecosystem has evolved into a flatter mesh, with the Tier 1 transit providers required only as the route of last resort. Traffic destined to locations too far away or too expensive to reach will ultimately need the services of an international transit provider. At this stage, the Tier 1 transit providers have lost their grip on the U.S. Internet Peering Ecosystem.
Figure 10-5 Content peers with eyeballs. The Tier 2 ISPs and the cable companies peer with the content companies that entered the peering ecosystem.