A Network Crumb Back Story: A Baker's Dozen Retrospective
4 days ago
- #AS rankings
- #internet transit
- #BGP
- The Baker’s Dozen was an annual ranking of the internet’s top ASes based on estimated customer cone size, published by Renesys and later Dyn.
- The ranking methodology involved analyzing BGP routes to classify AS relationships as transit or peering, with credit given based on transited IP space.
- Over 20 years, the transit market evolved significantly, with content delivery services reducing reliance on transit and driving down wholesale prices.
- Major shifts included the decline of traditional transit providers like Sprint and AT&T, market consolidation (e.g., Level 3 acquiring Global Crossing), and the rise of new players like Cogent and Arelion.
- The default-free zone (DFZ) and internet partitions were key topics, highlighting how de-peering between major ASes could disrupt global connectivity.
- Transit’s role has diminished, with embedded caches and peering now delivering most traffic, but it remains essential for global connectivity.