Section IV — The Tricks of the Trade: The Playbooks

In this section we present the tactics used by some of the smartest peering coordinators in the world.

They shared some tactics that they have used to obtain peering where they otherwise would not have been able to. We briefly present the foundation of the IXP, the colocation facility, and then finish by sharing some of the tricks of the trade that the most successful IXPs in the world have used to build, grow, maintain, and defend their “critical mass.”

Chapters in this section

• Chapter 11 — The ISP Peering PlaybookTwenty-seven tactics ISPs use to obtain peering they otherwise couldn’t get.
• Chapter 12 — Taxonomy of Data Center OperationsThe infrastructure under the IXP: real estate, security, power, HVAC, ops.
• Chapter 13 — The IXP PlaybookSixteen tactics IXPs use to build, grow, attack, and defend a critical mass of peers.
• Chapter 14 — The FutureNorton’s 2014 forecast, graded against 2026 reality (AI-annotated).