Re: What is a regional exchange point?

Two issues:

1) You're creating a category ("regional" exchange point) which presumably
differs from an exchange point by its property of being "regional," yet
you don't clearly delineate what distinguishes it as different from an
exchange point in the usual sense.

2) Use of the word "regional" in this sense (or at least the sense I
believe you're using it in) was common in the `80s, when there were
"regional networks" but it's now evolved to mean something completely
different, as in "regional internet registries."  This is unfortunate, as
it confuses a lot of people who go back and read historical documents from
before that shift of meaning, but I don't know that it can be helped, and
not recognizing that change just confuses things further, in my opinion.

    > A regional exchange point ("REP") facilitates traffic
    > sharing between networks within a local or regional area
    > (such as a city, metro area, state, or multi-state region).
    > Benefits of a REP include: faster, more reliable connections
    > for network users in the region; lower Internet bandwidth
    > costs for participants who exchange regional traffic
    > locally; enabling or improving latency- and jitter-sensitive
    > applications that are less- or non-functional over national
    > IP networks.
    >
    > REPs may be created through a single switch (Ethernet, FDDI
    > or ATM) at a single central location, or connect members
    > virtually through circuits or shared ATM, frame-relay or
    > Ethernet services. Some REPs use a combination of methods.
    >
    > Even though a REP may be focused on intra-region traffic
    > exchange, participants at the exchange may also exchange
    > national traffic, particularly if a REP several attracts
    > national network providers.
    >
    > REPs usually offer services or facilities to support peering
    > between participants, including bi-lateral (negotiated
    > individually between networks), multi-lateral (join an
    > existing group of peers who all agree to peer with each
    > other) and other types of peering methods.
    >
    > REPs may offer or facilitate other services. Some REPs allow
    > Internet bandwidth and other network services to be sold
    > over the exchange (called a "transit exchange"), so
    > participants can peer and purchase network services at the
    > same place. Some REPs provide co-operatively-purchased
    > bandwidth and national peering services to their
    > participants. Other services that may be available at a REP
    > (either as a service of the REP or a collaboration between
    > participants) include USENET news services, Web caching
    > hierarchies, and content acceleration.
    >
    > ----
    >
    > Any changes you'd recommend?
    >
    > Pete.
    >


                                -Bill