[kictanet] KIXP connectivity

[McTim]

Hi,

On Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 11:00 AM, robert yawe <robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Hi,
> How does one get connected to KIXP

One usually needs an Autonomous System Number (assigned from AfriNIC,
the RIR for the African region) and a block of IP addresses (usually
from same registry).


>and what are the charges,

http://www.kixp.or.ke/index.php?Itemid=22&id=10&option=com_content&task=view

shows what the costs are.  It took ~10 seconds for me to find, a good
example of local content.

 we run a
> website, yes locally hosted, but unfortunately the experience is different
> depending on the ISP the client is connecting from, at times we have noted
> traffic being rerouting through the international link because a particular
> ISPs KIXP pipe is full.

It may not be the case that a "pipe is full", probably more likely due
to routing issues.  First place to troubleshoot is the ISP that
connects the hosting provider to KIXP.   So for example:

$tracert www.propertykenya.com

Tracing route to www.propertykenya.com [196.216.64.233]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1    62 ms     3 ms     3 ms  192.168.1.1
  2    74 ms    80 ms    60 ms  41.206.46.10.accesskenya.com [41.206.46.10]
  3    55 ms    59 ms    59 ms  fe-01-kixp.accesskenya.com [196.207.31.78]
  4    66 ms    59 ms    59 ms  fe-01-kixp.accesskenya.com [196.207.31.78]
  5    57 ms    84 ms    50 ms  198.32.143.72
  6    73 ms    74 ms    59 ms  80.240.192.193
  7    67 ms    50 ms    89 ms  217.21.112.1.swiftkenya.com [217.21.112.1]
  8    53 ms    59 ms    79 ms  196.216.64.233.swiftkenya.com [196.216.64.233]

Trace complete.

In other words, I get to websites hosted in Ke across the KIXP mesh
easily, YMMV.

I don't understand your statement that "TESPOK does not really want
new entrants".  Of course they want more members, then they are a
stronger association.  I'm not sure I would have limited peers at KIXP
to licensed providers, but maybe that is a gov't requirement, just
guessing.

As far as bandwidth per peer to the IX, this isn't normally made
available by any IXP (that I know of) anywhere.  The most you are
likely to get is something like this: http://stats.uixp.co.ug/.  While
KIXP peers have decided NOT to make this data publicly available, the
aggregated traffic stats have recently been made public at
http://www.kixp.or.ke/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=34

That service is currently down, but I know they are working on it (I
witnessed them beavering away on that very server earlier this week).

IMO, you don't need another neutral IXP (we have two at 3 locations),
as in the case you are discussing, there is never a guarantee that
traffic will stay local.  For example, when I lived in Holland and
would request a web page elsewhere in the EU, that traffic would
sometimes go across the Atlantic and back, despite a much more
interconnected (via IXPs) ecosystem than what we have here.  In any
case, traceroute is your friend in this situation.

-- 
Cheers,

McTim
"A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A
route indicates how we get there."  Jon Postel