Core AS Internet

Cooperative Assocation for Data Analysis (CAIDA)
San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC)
University of California, San Diego (UCSD)

URL: http://www.caida.org/research/topology/as_core_network/

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	Strengths: (Strength1): By combining peering richness and geographic information, this graph clearly reveals the highly connected nature of ASes. Of the top 15 ASes, 14 are based in the U.S., and one is based in Canada. While ISPs in Europe and Asia have many peering relationships with ISPs in the U.S. there are few links directly between ISPs in Asia and Europe. Issues: (Issue1): Each AS headquarters reflects an administrative home, not geographical location of actual infrastructure. (which is typically national or global). (Issue2): Graph does not reflect current conditions. More studies are needed to determine an appropriate sampling rate. (CAIDA hopes to have a daily update available by December 2000.) (Issue3): Graph only represents forward IP topology information, with IP addresses mapped to origin ASes using a BGP routing table. Other information about peering sessions is not reflected. (Issue4): IP layer only, does not capture lower layer (e.g., ATM, physical fiber) information. (Issue5): Graph doesn't address any performance or workload measurements, precluding comparison of ISPs in these dimensions.
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