AbstractInternet Service Providers (ISPs) sell access to the global Internet as a service “Internet Transit”. Since the Internet is a network of networks, to provide this service ISPs must somehow themselves connect to the Internet. There are two ways to accomplThe Peering Simulation Game is based upon the research (“Internet Service Providers and Peering” and “A Business Case for Peering”) that documents ISP peering practices, motivations, and strategies, and was designed to demonstrate ISP peering negotiationThe Peering Simulation Game has evolved over a year now, having been presented in over a dozen International forums including the ITU, FCC, NANOG, RIPE, APRICOT, ISP Forum, ISPCon, etc. This paper presents the game and its rules, along with lessons learnIntroduction and DefinitionsThe PlayersThe Game BoardGoalPlayPeering NegotiationPeering MatrixSpecial AdjustmentsSummaryHow this simulation is different from peering reality:D R A F T 0.3 W. B. Norton wbn Page 1 2/21/2002 The Peering Simulation Game William B. Norton <[email protected]> Abstract Internet Service Providers (ISPs) sell access to the global Internet as a service “Internet Transit”. Since the Internet is a network of networks, to provide this service ISPs must somehow themselves connect to the Internet. There are two ways to accomplish this: 1) purchase transit from an ISP that already has access to the global Internet and/or 2) negotiate” peering” with other ISPs in order to reduce the cost of transit. The Peering Simulation Game is based upon the research (“Internet Service Providers and Peering” and “A Business Case for Peering”) that documents ISP peering practices, motivations, and strategies, and was designed to demonstrate ISP peering negotiations through a live simulation. In this simulation, four audience members play the role of ISP Peering Coordinator, rolling the dice and growing their network by acquiring customer “squares” on a virtual game board. They receive money for each square they occupy but must pay transit fees to their upstream ISP to access the rest of the “Internet”. By negotiating peering, the Peering Coordinators reduce their transit costs. The goal of the game is to maximize their bank account. Since the ISPs both cooperate in peering to reduce costs and compete to maximize their bank accounts, this game has proven to bring forward peering negotiations strikingly similar to peering negotiations in the real world. The Peering Simulation Game has evolved over a year now, having been presented in over a dozen International forums including the ITU, FCC, NANOG, RIPE, APRICOT, ISP Forum, ISPCon, etc. This paper presents the game and its rules, along with lessons learned from running the simulations and saving the game boards internationally. Introduction and Definitions The Peering Simulation takes place in a fictional Internet that we will call “BillLand”. BillLand consists of a small number of ISPs that all start out endowed with venture funding of $35,0001. Since ISPs by definition sell access to the Internet, they must themselves get connected to the Internet. 1 Depending on the economy, the value of my personal stock portfolio, and my gambling losses for the week, I sometimes cut the ISP funding down to $25,000. The ISPs attach to the Internet by purchasing “Transit” from one of two Transit Providers that service their region. But Transit providers charge for this service, with monthly fees proportionately to the size of the Internet2. Therefore, the ISPs are motivated to “peer”, (directly interconnect their networks) in order to reduce the amount of transit they need to purchase. But there is a cost associated with “peering”, so the ISPs need to negotiate how to cover the cost of peering. Once peering is set up, the two ISPs do not need to pay transit fees to access each other customers. In BillLand, all activities take place in the open3, all negotiations take place in public4, and all players are omnipotent in the sense that they all know each others standing in the game. The Internet is still unregulated but there are a few rules that are enforced by the ruler of BillLand, namely me5. The Players Four players are selected from the audience to play the role of ISP Peering Coordinator for their ISP. They all used the services of “SuperHyperBland Marketing Inc.” and therefore adopted the following catchy company names: • ISP A • ISP B • ISP C • ISP D The Game Board The virtual6 game board consists of a matrix of squares, each representing a territory of customers (and an associated quantity of Internet traffic). There are four Internet Exchange Points in which 2 The simplifying assumption here is that all customers uniformly access customers in all other squares in the Internet. Therefore, more customers on the Internet means that the transit fees increase. 3 Often on a stage, in front of friends a colleagues. 4 Often with amplification and microphones. 5 To date this game requires a moderator/facilitator. 6 Virtual makes it sound cool. The game board and math is done in an Excel spreadsheet.DRAFT Peering Simulation Game W. B. Norton 2 Comments to the Author Welcome <[email protected]> ISPs can negotiate peering, called7 • Exchange Point North • Exchange Point East • Exchange Point South • Exchange Point West The Transit Providers (X & Y) shown on the board are not real players in the game but represent the upstream ISPs selling transit access to the other ISPs in the Internet for a metered per-square transit fee. Transit Provider XNA BEWC DS Transit Provider Y Goal ISPs compete to maximize their bank account. Revenue is earned through the acquisition of “squares” of customers. Revenue. Each square the ISP sits on yields $1000 in revenue. Transit Fees. Costs include “transit” fees proportional to the number of squares that other ISPs occupy, specifically, $2000/square that other ISPs sit on. For example, if ISP B, C, D collectively sit on 10 squares, the transit fee for ISP A is 10 * $2000/square or $20,000 for that turn. Peering. Costs can be reduced by establishing “peering relationships” with other players, eliminating transit fees to access each others squares. See “Peering Negotiations” for details on how this works. The winner is the player with the most money at the end of the game. Play 7 SuperHyperBland Marketing Inc. made a killing here too.
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