Category: Internet

Internet access for organizations today is no longer about connectivity for email and web browsing. A stable Internet connection is a vital component in the chain of IT systems required to conduct business. Typically, in the past, the focus around Internet connectivity has been on cost, with vendors providing solutions allowing organizations to spread their traffic across consumer and enterprise products. This approach is all good and well and can provide significant cost savings, especially when employee traffic is directed over low-cost consumer products such as ADSL, however, when you are conducting B2B business through front end servers hosted in your DMZ, resilience becomes a major concern. In this scenario, a dead Internet link can mean a loss of revenue and even, potentially more serious, brand damage. In this paper, we discuss a number of methods that can be used to improve the resilience of an Internet link. While this sounds like it should be a simple case of connecting to multiple Internet Service Providers, the devil, as they say, is in the detail.

Mission critical Internet

Business networks have been mission critical for some time now and the focus on resilience and business continuity has always been top of any CIO’s mind, however, the general areas of interest for this focus were restricted to internal networks and systems. With more and more business being conducted either directly via the web or via B2B over Internet links to systems hosted in DMZ’s, it is simply no longer permissible for an Internet link to be down. Loss of access to the Internet can have a direct impact on revenue generation, especially today as the business operating models begin shifting towards off-site cloud computing and software as a service.

A solution to the problem

Multihoming is essentially a method whereby a company can connect to more than one ISP at the same time. The concept was born out of the need to protect Internet access in the event of either an ISP link failure or an ISP internal failure. In the earlier days of Internet access, most traffic was outbound with the exception of email. An Internet link failure left internal users with no browsing capability and with email backing up on inbound ISP mail gateways. Once the link was restored so was browsing and email delivery. The direct impact to the business was relatively small and mostly not revenue affecting. Early solutions to this problem were to connect multiple links to the same ISP, but while this offered some level of link resilience, it could provide no safeguards against an internal ISP failure.

Today, however, most organizations deploy a myriad of on-site Internet access services such as VPN’s, voice services, webmail and secure internal system access while also making use of business critical off-site services such as software as a service (SaaS) and other cloud-based solutions. Furthermore, while corporate front-end websites are traditionally hosted offsite with web hosting firms, the real-time information on the corporate websites and B2B sites is provided by back-end systems based in the corporate data center or DMZ. Without a good quality Internet connection, these vital links would be severed.

Varied requirements and complexity

That said, the requirement for multihoming are varied and could range from the simple need for geographic link diversity (single ISP) to full link and ISP resilience where separate links are run from separate data centers to different ISPs. While the complexity varies for each option, the latter forms the most complex deployment option, but affords the highest availability, with the former providing some degree of protection, but does require a higher grade of ISP.

A major component of the complexity comes in around IP addressing. The way the Internet IP addressing system works is that each ISP applies for a range of addresses from the central Internet registrar in their region. They would then allocate a range of IP addresses, called an address space, to their customers from this pool. It goes without saying that no two ISP’s can issue the same address space to a customer.

Why would this be a problem? Simply put, it’s all about routing. Routing is the process whereby the Internet finds out how to get traffic to your particular server. It’s a bit like the Google map for the Internet. For somebody to find your server, a “route” or path needs to exist to the IP address of your server. Since you are getting your Internet service, and hence your IP address space, from your ISP, they are responsible for publishing the route to your server across the entire Internet. They are effectively the source of your route and nobody else can do that for your particular address space. You can see how things can go wrong if the ISP suffers some form of internal failure. If your particular route disappeared, your server would simply vanish from the Internet, even if your Internet link was up and running. This is precisely the kind of issue multihoming tries to solve, but for completeness, we will start at the more simple options and work our way up.

Single Link, Single ISP, Multiple address spaces

While not a multihoming solution in the strictest sense of the term, the single link, multiple address option can be useful for small sites. In this scenario, the publicly accessible host is assigned two IP addresses from two different address spaces. You would, of course, need two address spaces from your ISP for this to work. Thus, theoretically, if a routing issue occurs that impacts one of the address spaces the other may still be available. The single physical ISP link is, of course, a single point of failure and this option would seem to offer little in the form of real resilience.

Multiple links, Single ISP, Single address spaces per link

This scenario, generally called multi-attached, is a variation on the above where the site now connects through multiple links each with a different IP address space, but still via single ISP. If one of the links fails, its IP addresses would become unreachable, however, the other IP address on the remaining link will still be available and your server would still be reachable. Internet Service Providers use a control protocol to manage their IP routes called Border Gateway Protocol or BGP. This protocol is used to manage the traffic re-routing over the live link. BGP can be complex and demands at lot from the equipment it runs on. Of course, with complexity comes cost, however, the BGP deployment for this scenario is not as onerous as with a fully multihomed site and should not attract too much attention from the CFO. While the deployment is a simpler version of full multihoming, it does restrict the corporate to a single ISP, which may not be part of the strategic intent of the business.

Multiple Links, Multiple ISP, Single address space

This scenario is what is generally meant when discussing multihoming. The BGP protocol is used to manage the visibility of the single address space across the multiple links and ISP’s and, thus, maintain the routes. The BGP protocol communicates between the corporate routers and those of the two ISP’s with the protocol being able to detect link failure and divert traffic to the functioning link even if this is via a different ISP network.

What’s the catch?

There is always a catch, and in this case, there is actually a number of them. To run true dual ISP multihoming and BGP as a corporate you would need your own Provider Independent (PI) IP address space and you would need to apply for a unique BGP Autonomous System Number (ASN). The AS Number is used to identify your site as a valid Internet location in the eyes of BGP. While applying for an ASN is not an onerous undertaking, it does place some significant responsibility squarely with you instead of the ISP. Deploying BGP effectively brings your organization one step closer to the Internet by making you responsible for advertising your own public IP address spaces and, thus, your routes. It also means that any operational mistakes you make will ripple through the entire Internet in spectacular fashion.

Address space considerations

Most large organizations that operate true multihoming already have their own Provider Independent address space. This is an address space that they requested directly from the local Internet registrar themselves some time ago before IP version 4 (IPv4) addresses started running out. Today it is virtually impossible to be allocated a PI address space from the IPv4 pool. It is possible to run a multihomed scenario by using ISP provided IP address spaces, but the network configurations become considerably more complex and at some point start defeating the end goal of increasing resilience. In the real world, increased complexity seldom equates to improved resilience.

Scaling

A true BGP enabled multihoming deployment (often known as running defaults) will require hardware that is capable of storing IP routing tables of Internet scale. This is desirable as it protects the organization from an internal ISP failure, however, requires the routers on-site to be of a “carrier grade”, in other words, big and beefy. The Internet routing tables are the massive and vast amount of processing power and memory will be required to run defaults. It is possible to run in a reduced route mode where only local prefixes are stored on the routers, but given the effort and expense of deploying a full multihomed solution, compromise should not really be part of the conversation.

Summary

While there are definite advantages to full multihoming, there are also some significant caveats. Complexity and Scaling aside the real reasons and costs for considering multihoming should be carefully considered.

The use of internet nowadays has really upstaged all the habits in the world that we used to know. In fact, it already became a part of the daily routine for most people to the point that their day is incomplete without even checking their emails, updating Facebook status, browsing for the latest news and trends, or even playing a single online game. Indeed, it has greatly influenced today’s lifestyles.

It is for this reason that internet users are looking for ways to have an advanced connection. Perhaps you have longed for it too. Actually, you can find out more about local internet options in your area. At any rate, just like any other things for that matter, the internet has great effects in the lifestyles of many people.

The world has become smaller

With the advent of the local internet, the world has indeed become smaller every day. Whatever you do, it seems that almost everything is done so fast. Life has never been this simpler and more manageable. In just a split of a second you can shop online, make business transactions through e-mail, research on a variety of topics, have a virtual conversation with someone as if face to face, play with anybody else around the world, and a whole lot more.

The internet has absolutely defied time and space so much so that all the events worldwide are flashed ahead of the conventional media. This revolutionary technological advancement has made world continents seem closer. It is very amazing to note that a local internet will serve as the bridge between your current location and to that of the other parts of the world. Somehow this gives an impression that will either encourage you to pursue life and career somewhere else or to stay where you are currently residing.

A source of relevant information

Prior to this rising popularity of the local internet, we are having a hard time of looking for more information with regard to our interests. Most of the time, perhaps your previous endeavors include relying on books, journals, newspapers, and other reading materials, radio and television to satisfy your quest for relevant information. To make it easier, sometimes you may just go to the library and spend hours reading there not minding the boring ambiance.

But now, we are given the best option, thanks to the internet we can now have access to any information we want. In fact, we are bombarded with so much information that we tend to become already dependent on the internet. A piece of advice though, you need to be precautious all the time because not all information that you have stumbled upon on the internet are factual. Sometimes you may encounter questionable information. Nevertheless, the internet is truly a great source of information.

Easier and faster communication

Long before this local internet was introduced to the general public, we used to communicate with people from other places through letters and telephone calls. Then we benefited with the arrival of mobile phones which made communication easier, with an option to text or call. But all of these modes of communication were rolled into one through the internet. It is a very effective communication tool that somehow made some people addicted to it especially with the emergence of the popular social networking sites.

Through the internet, long lost friends and relatives are reconnected instantly. By simply taking full advantage of Yahoo Messenger or Skype through chat or video call, you will be connected with those people whom you’ve missed for such a long time. All of these are made possible because of these innovative technological developments. Social networking sites play a vital role in this aspect.

More convenient transactions

With the help of the local internet, transactions have become more convenient, be it business related or have something to do with personal matters. The internet has really made possible government transactions faster and more convenient. With just a click away, processing legal documents need no more wasting of time and energy. Though it costs more than the usual procedures it’s all worth it as you have all the comfort at your home while waiting for the outcome.

Business-related transactions, on the other hand, have also occupied space on the internet. If you just know how to play the game, you will really reap the rewards in the end. Using all the social media marketing techniques available, your business will surely go places. There’s no need for you to literally go to other places to personally market your products or services without certainty. This may be done online. At this point in time, you will only act if there’s an assurance for you to do so.

Life enriching

To some, it may not have that much effect but to other people it means something. The local internet is considered to be life enriching and therefore they keep on patronizing it. Through the internet, the intellectual capacity and analytical ability of an individual will be enhanced. The internet has greatly contributed to the improvement of the lives of some people and their professions. To date, millions of people worldwide have experienced the life changing effects of the internet in one way or another.

Some people have established a niche in a certain industry with the help of internet and have greatly benefited from it as far as their financial status is concerned. To some, the internet paved the way for them to be recognized globally for their pure talent. Take for example Charice Pempengco from the Philippines, a genuine discovery several years ago through YouTube whose excellent singing prowess captured the attention of millions of music lovers worldwide that even Oprah, Ellen Degeneres, David Foster and other renowned celebrities became instant supporters of her.

What is wireless and how does it work? Wireless can be described as the transfer of information between two or more points that are physically not connected. Distances can be as short as a few meters as in television remote control or long, ranging from thousands to millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications.

Probably the best example of wireless technology is the cell phone. The world’s first wireless telephone conversation happened in 1880, when Alexander Graham Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter invented and patented the photophone, a telephone that conducted audio conversations wirelessly over controlled light beams (electromagnetic waves). Then in 1915 American Telephone and Telegraph thought about creating a wireless phone but they were afraid that this great technology would undermine its monopoly on wired services in the United States. They were right. Over 85 years later this extraordinary little unwired device has revolutionized the telephone industry and put wired phone carriers out of business by offering free long distance, free nights and weekends, free sing up offers, and the convenience of having a mobile phone virtually anywhere on the go.

Common everyday wireless devices also include, garage door openers, cordless phones, two-way radios, satellite television, satellite Internet, GPS, and Wi-Fi.

As the personal computer became popular in the early 1970s, the idea of a portable personal computer came about. In 1981 Adam Osborne produced the first personal portable computer (now called laptop), Osborne 1. It weighed 24 lbs, had a 5 inch screen and cost $1795 ($4,552 today). The demand for the laptop skyrocketed. Consumers desired portability. When the Internet boom hit in the 1990’s an idea to connect to the Internet with a portable laptop without a wire came about. Unlike the hard lined personal desktop computer Internet connection this would be wireless and required a faster connection. In 1999 the word Wi-Fi and its yin-yang style logo were created by the Wi-Fi Alliance as a catchier term for IEEE 802.11. Today over 700 million people use Wi-Fi worldwide and there are over 4 million hotspots (places with Wi-Fi Internet connectivity).

How does it work? If you’ve been in an airport, coffee shop, library or hotel recently, chances are you’ve been right in the middle of a wireless network. A wireless network uses radio waves, just like cell phones, televisions, and radios do. In fact, communication across a wireless network is a lot like two-way radio communication.

Here’s what happens:

1. Your laptop computer translates data into a radio signal and transmits it using an internal antenna.
2. A wireless router receives the signal and decodes it. The router sends the information to the Internet using a physical, wired Ethernet connection.

Do you remember when you rode a bicycle with no hands for the first time? “Look Mom! No hands!” Ahhh..free as a bird. Good old days, right? Computer users can relate to that same experience when using wireless for the first time and every time. Sitting at that same “glued” position at that same home desktop computer at that same spot only to get up to find your spine in a gridlock. Did you know the sitting position is the worst possible position for your back and applies the most stress on your spine? No more back pain inflammation flaring up by having to remain in that fixed position in that same old 3-legged hard little wooden chair that has lived up to way more than its life expectancy. Moving from one place to another without having to worry about tripping over wires is made easy. Get comfy and lay down on the couch and watch TV while fiddling around on the Internet with your laptop, browsing news headlines or checking email.

Wireless or Wi-Fi enables the Internet user to roam freely anywhere in their house, business, or other wireless network (up to about 150 feet indoors and 300 feet outdoors) with one or multiple computers.

People that live in urban centralized areas benefit from readily available wireless high speed Internet options and hotspots virtually everywhere. Wireless Internet providers are not as prevalent in rural areas and options for rural Internet are scarce. People in rural areas, areas out in the country, or in areas just past the “cut-off” of conventional high speed Internet service enjoy the same high speed wireless Internet benefits such as connecting wirelessly in the family room, the kitchen, the bedroom, on the porch, or connecting with more than one computer. The increased demand for rural Internet has started to make it more attractive for rural broadband Internet providers to service these remote areas of the country. Rural areas where cable Internet and DSL Internet have limited or no availability can have access to high speed rural broadband Internet service through satellite Internet. HughesNet and Wild Blue, the two largest satellite Internet providers in North America, provide rural Internet without the restrictions and limited availability of hard lined cable or DSL. They provide the solution for high speed rural wireless satellite Internet service in rural areas.

This demand for high speed rural wireless Internet and along with competitors fighting for the next rural customer has driven monthly prices down to an affordable level and free equipment and installation are now becoming the norm. This has been a relief for consumers that are on fixed income or can only afford to get service if the price is under a certain level which the can afford on a monthly basis.

A recent rural Internet survey states that only 24 percent of rural residents have Internet access at home. This small number is a result of many factors, but one of the major reasons is that many cable and DSL Internet service providers do not provide rural broadband Internet services.

Of course, many people living in rural areas access the Internet through dial-up phone lines – sometimes a frustrating and slow experience. With a dial-up Internet connection it can take almost a minute (sometimes longer) for a Web page to load on the screen. Sometimes images and documents cannot be accessed at all because of a slow dial-up connection. Also, using dial-up as a rural Internet provider can tie up phone lines and is not fast enough for a wireless connection.

There is a solution for rural Internet – satellite Internet. Wireless rural broadband Internet is possible through higher speed satellite Internet. With rural wireless high speed satellite Internet, slow or no Internet access is a thing of the past. Now, no matter where you live in the contiguous United States you can have wireless high speed Internet access like you’ve never had before. And you’ll finally be able to surf the Internet without tying up your phone lines and connect wirelessly at high speed with rural wireless Internet.

What does wireless broadband mean? Simply put, wireless broadband means high speed wireless Internet access. To understand it more specifically, you have to think in terms of data transmission or the amount of time it takes to send messages from your computer to another computer. In other words, how long does it take for you to download information from a Website?

A dial-up Internet connection transfers data at a rate of up to 56 kilobits per second (56K). Average dial-up Internet users typically connect around 20 to 30 kilobits per second (20-30K) or sometimes even slower. This is a slow data transfer rate. A wireless broadband satellite Internet connection provides a data transfer rate of 50-100 times that much.

With download speeds from 1000 kilobits per second to 5000 kilobits per second, a high speed wireless rural satellite Internet connection provides faster download times of images and documents, and the capability of viewing more online information at one time without frustration or interruptions in service. And rural broadband Internet through satellite is only going to get faster. In January 2012 HughesNet, the largest provider of rural high speed satellite Internet service in North America, will be launching a new satellite named “Jupiter” and will be capable of reaching speeds of over 100 gigabytes per second to further fuel HughesNet’s rapidly growing high demand for high speed rural Internet.

With this high rate of data transmission, rural broadband satellite Internet users can reach higher connection speeds and are capable of having a wireless connection. Receiving information and posting information online are all done at higher speeds. Download photos, email, bank and shop online, research, web browse, even go to school online or own and operate a home based business. All of this can be done with increased Internet speeds with a rural wireless satellite Internet connection as your rural Internet provider.

Businesses and consumers both benefit from high speed rural satellite Internet as their rural broadband Internet provider because it has a proven track record of reliability. High speed rural wireless satellite Internet provides an ‘always on’ Internet connection, meaning you never have to wait for your modem to dial in to the internet. No phone line is required so there is no hassle for logging off to wait for a phone call or to make a phone call.

When you order rural wireless high speed satellite Internet for your rural Internet access, a certified installer will come to your home and install the Internet service. Installation includes installing a satellite dish outside your home in a south-facing direction and connecting your computer to a satellite modem. This will give you broadband satellite Internet access. The technician is required to show you how to connect to the Internet and confirm your signal and connection speed.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/742638

Accessing information and interactive resources available around the globe via the Internet is a pretty simple task. In a carefree Internet world, the dynamics of connecting to resources are transparent, and we expect resources we want to access are available through our local Internet service provider. Technical details of connecting to Internet resources are an abstract concept for most, and whatever mechanics happen behind the scenes are not relevant to our everyday use of the network.

Because the Internet is made up of a complex matrix of physical, business and international relationships, how these systems interact and collaborate is actually very important to the end user, as well as to those providing Internet services and content. Of the greatest concern impacting online resources from eBay to the Bank of America is the potential financial pressure brought on by the largest Tier 1 networks. As the only networks in the world having global Internet visibility, these few companies, including AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, Level 3, and Cable and Wireless, facilitate access to the global Internet – a function which people and companies worldwide depend on to ensure small networks and content providers are available through their local service providers.

The Tier 1 world was born at the demise of NSFNet (National Science Foundation Network). In the early days of Internet development, the NSF supported development of a large publicly funded academic and research network throughout the United States, and connecting many foreign academic networks to the US as a hub through the International Connections Manager (ICM Network). As commercial Internet development grew in the early 1990s, the NSF realized it was time to back away from publicly funding the “Internet” and grant contracts to large US carriers to take over responsibility for the former US Domestic backbone and ICM portions of the NSFNet.

Small Internet exchange points (IXPs) were also funded, allowing the large networks taking over NSFNet assets, as well as their own commercial Internets to connect and share Internet traffic. Those network access points (NAPs) were also contracted to the large US carriers, who managed policies for US and International network exchange. The large US carriers ultimately had control of the networks, and were the original Tier 1 Internet providers.

Roadblocks in the Internet Community

Debates around net neutrality highlight some underlying issues. The goal of net neutrality is to preserve the open and interconnected nature of the public Internet. But whether the largest networks use their control to hinder growth and innovation within the Internet-connect business community or impede free access to Internet-connected content sources, they have the power and control which could present challenges to an open Internet environment.

A Tier 1 network, for example, has the power to charge a major content delivery network (CDN) a premium to access its network. This is because the CDN may deliver a very large amount of content traffic into a network, and the Tier 1 network believes they should receive additional compensation to fund additional capacity needed to support content distribution. This premium may be more money than the CDN is willing or able to pay. In turn, if the CDN doesn’t comply, the Tier 1 can ultimately refuse the CDN access to its network and cut its consumers access to the CDN’s content. This applies whether consumers access the Tier 1 directly or if the Tier 1 is the middle-network between consumers and their Tier 2 or 3 networks.

A voice over Internet Protocol Company underscores another potential conflict of interest. Let’s say you’re a consumer of a Tier 1 network that’s also a telephone company and you want to use a VoIP company, such as Vonage. But the Tier 1 doesn’t want the VoIP company to compete with its network and would rather that you use its own telephone product, so the Tier 1 may prevent you from using your VoIP company. In other words, a Tier 1, in developing its own commercial VoIP product, can prevent non-owned VoIP traffic from passing through its network.

While Tier 1 networks hold value for much of the Internet world, they also impose many political and financial barriers on smaller networks, content delivery networks, emerging VoIP companies, online gaming businesses, B2B and online commerce, and entertainment web sites. It is evident that Internet Service Providers (ISPs), CDNs, VoIPs, and many others need an alternative method of communicating with each other – one providing tools to redesign how relationships and interconnections bond the US Internet content and access communities.

Breaking Down Barriers

One objective in building efficiency and the performance needed to deliver content resources to end users is to flatten existing Internet architecture. Whenever possible, you eliminate the Tier 1 Internet networks from participating in the delivery of content resources to end users.

How do we accomplish this task? One option is through development and use of commercial Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), a location where many Internet-enabled networks and content resources meet to interconnect with each other as peers.

According to Wikipedia, an IXP is a physical infrastructure that allows different Internet Service Providers to exchange Internet traffic between their networks (autonomous systems) by means of mutual peering agreements, which allows traffic to be exchanged without cost. An IXP is essentially a physical switch in a carrier hotel or data center with the capacity to connect thousands of networks together, whether content providers or network providers.

Today at the Any2 Exchange, an IXP built within One Wilshire, on a single switch 125 different networks interconnect and are freely able to pass traffic amongst each other without having to go to a Tier 1 for routing. Members pay a small annual fee to the Any2 Exchange for the one-time connection and then benefit from the “peering” relationships among members of the Internet exchange.

Akamai, for example, a large content distribution network company that delivers streaming media and movies on demand, can connect to American Internet Services, a Tier 3 ISP in San Diego, Calif., through a local or regional Internet exchange point such as the Any2 Exchange, the Palo Alto Internet Exchange (PAIX), or other large exchange points operated by data centers and carrier hotels.

When an American Internet Services user wants to watch a movie that’s available on Akamai’s content delivery network, the data is passed directly from Akamai to American Internet Services – and subsequently to the end user – without transiting any other network. Not only has the goal of being less reliant on a Tier 1 been achieved, but the performance is superior because there are no “hops” between the CSP and ISP. Anytime you’re able to cut out the transit network, you increase the end user experience. Plus, it’s more economical, as in moist cases the CDN and ISP have no financial settlement for data exchanged.

The European IXP model, which is more mature and robust than the US model, highlights the important function of IXPs and how an exchange point alone can help influence the net neutrality debate. In Europe, Internet service providers and content delivery networks look to the IXP as their first connection point and if the IXP doesn’t have what they’re looking for, only then will they go to a Tier 1 or large Tier 2. Americans on the other hand, partially due to geographic size

Overall European IXP traffic grew at a rate of 11.05%, compared to America’s rate of 7.44%, according to the European Internet Exchange Association in August 2007. This can be attributed in part to greater member density in Europe – the London Internet Exchange/LINX has more than 275 members – where the larger the addressable community, the larger the traffic exchanged and the more the members want to get involved. After all, network effect (exponential growth of a community) and the “Law of Plentitude” (the idea that once an addressable or social community reaches participation by 15% or greater of a total community, it becomes a risk to not participate in the emerging community) motivate European companies to use IXPs. Additionally, Europeans generally have lower entry costs for participation, giving companies every reason why to participate in the IXP-enabled peering community. If one were to buy access to 275 networks through a Tier 1, the cost would be astronomical, but through a single connection to LINX, one can access 275 networks for a nominal fee. This is why European companies rely on IXPs 60% of the time, and only look to Tier 1 or 2 networks 40% of the time.

In contrast, American ISPs normally look to larger wholesale and Internet transit providers first and then consider reducing their operational expenses via an IXP as a second priority. American ISPs companies use IXPs at a more meager 15% rate, looking to larger wholesale and transit Tier 1 or Tier 2 networks 85% of the time. Still, recent American IXP traffic growth does exceed other regions, such as Japan (+5.85% in August) and the rest of Asia (+4.3% in August), which we believe is a result of increased price pressure on the American IXP industry. Newer IXPs, such as the Any2 Exchange, have lowered entry costs significantly, forcing others to follow suit and encouraging more networks to participate. As the cost of entry to IXPs continues to fall, participation in IXPs will become more common and attractive to all access and CDN networks.

What can we learn from the European model? Participation in an IXP can increase performance, lower operational costs and expenses, as well as bring an additional layer of redundancy and disaster recovery capacity to even the smallest networks. But most important, companies’ independence from Tier 1s through the collective bargaining of the exchange points puts them in a stronger position to deal with large networks than our position allows for in the US, where the vast majority of people have their primary Internet connections through a large Tier 2 or Tier 1 network provider.

Adding to the Cause

Today’s content-rich Internet is just a prelude to the future content, media, applications and services soon to be developed and deployed. It’s no wonder that in large IXPs, such as the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX), there are already several content delivery networks using bundled 10Gbps ports, clearly showing end users’ insatiable demand for high bandwidth applications and services. High Definition Internet TV (IPTV), massive online interactive gaming, video on demand (VOD), and feature-rich communications (video conferencing) are just a few examples of Internet-enabled applications contributing to the heightened demand.

For American ISPs that pay anywhere from $20-to-$40/Mbps when connecting to Tier 1 and Tier 2 networks, the cost of delivering applications and services to end users who require much larger network and bandwidth resources is one of the obstacles that needs to be overcome. But without broad participation in IXPs, access networks have a difficult future, as do content providers who will find that the cost of delivery to end users becomes much more expensive if Tier 1 and Tier 2 networks increase the cost of delivering both wholesale and end user Internet traffic.

What Can the American Internet-Connected Community Do?

Whether through price increases or monopolistic practices, the largest networks are currently writing the rules for a global Internet product. They are gradually merging and acquiring competition, reinforcing their influence in wholesale and transit network share and presence. Opportunities for network peering decrease with each merger.

Carrier hotels and large data centers in the US can support positive change in the Internet peering community by creating or supporting open and low cost Internet Exchange points promoting network peering and content delivery to all networks.

Reducing barriers to entry and the cost of wholesale or transit networks will allow Internet network and content companies to focus on delivering network access and services, with the ultimate winner being end users who will enjoy a lower cost, higher performance Internet experience.

Sidebar

Networking professionals describe Internet tiers as:

Tier 1 – A network with visibility of every other network and route on the Internet. Tier 1 networks have a unique position within the Internet, as the custodians of global routing. Tier 1 networks attempt to maintain their status by setting high barriers to entry for other large networks attempting to gain similar status. Tier 1 networks rarely peer with other networks, keeping their settlement-free interconnection community restricted to other Tier 1 networks.

Tier 2 – A regional network peering with other regional networks, but still relies on Tier 1 networks to reach at least routes and networks. Tier 2 Internet networks frequently peer at public Internet exchanges to connect to other Tier 2 networks, as well as large content delivery networks. In some cases regional Tier 2 and global Tier 2 networks are actually larger than their Tier 1 networks, with the only limitation being their global network visibility.

Tier 3 – An access network purchasing wholesale Internet access or transit from other larger networks to reach the global Internet. Tier 3s frequently participate in public Internet exchange points to try an minimize the costs associates with buying wholesale and transit routes or access from larger Tier 1 and Tier 2 networks. Tier 3 networks make up the majority of the global Internet, as the Internet access providers whom actually connect with end users.

Internet marketing is like every other businesses, except that internet marketing is done strictly online without need for any physical transactions or physical contacts with buyers.

As the internet marketing business is now thriving like never before, more people wish to establish them themselves in this business. Internet marketing involves the buying, selling and distribution of a product or service on the Internet. Internet marketing has, over the years, become one of the most dynamic and fastest growing businesses throughout the world. The main reason for this growth is its availability in the world to millions (if not billions) of people. It is not easy to learn the basics of Internet marketing. However, it is also not beyond the beginners’ ability to learn rapidly: anyone with passion to do successful business on the internet can do this.

Basically, there are four areas we need to look at:

Website Design

Designing a website is one of the basic skills you must possess before becoming an internet marketer. It used to be a requirement to have knowledge of HTML, CSS, XML, and other web design software languages. If you do possess these skills, you are be able to create websites according to your precise specifications. Apart from having these skills, you can join a website design platform (of which there are too many to go into here). These often have “drag and drop” templates. This will allow you to put up a very attractive website in almost no time at all.

These website templates are straight forward, and most have been designed for people who do not have the technical “computer language” skills to do their own programming. If the design of a website is not something you are good at, you can hire a good web designer to do the job for you.

Software Development

The development of software is another category in Internet marketing business. In this category, you develop a tool (or software) according to a customers’ specifications and preferences. This is a difficult task because it requires complex inputs (and something simple like a single comma instead of a period will actually stop the software from working)!

Development of websites is an easier skill to master than this. Some blog or website owners do require the service of software/apps developers from time to time. If you have this type of skill set, you can make good money by offering this service to customers across the globe. Such development may also include setting up the contents of websites, helping people with affiliate marketing, blogging, etc.

Advertising of Products or Services

This is arguably the easiest of all internet marketing techniques. Advertising uses techniques such as search engine optimization, as well as the use of popular blogs/websites to improve ad visibility. The ads are usually posted on websites that have greater use and get a lot of traffic. Examples of advertisements are visible on both Google and Facebook.

The skills to do this are easy to learn and even easier to set up. This type of marketing is preferred by many internet marketers over the website design and software development styles of marketing.

Truly, all you need do is learn how to set up a blog or website and begin to send traffic to it. Once you begin to receive a substantial amount of traffic, you apply to an Ads Company to advertise on your website. Google AdSense, Facebook ads, and propeller ads, are good examples for you to look into. Search engine optimization and the placement of banner ads are excellent examples of internet advertising.

Selling of Products and Services

Probably the largest and most popular way to begin a career in Internet Marketing is by selling a product or service. Selling on the Internet is the most searchable opportunity and is a precondition for any internet marketing business. Most direct sales companies are now tending towards using the Internet as well. You will find that the majority of my articles, blog posts and YouTube videos are centered around this niche of Internet Marketing.

Although there are many, many marketers in this niche (and you may think there is “too much competition”- but you would be wrong!) the opportunities are truly endless. Selling products or services is basically a strategy that can reach a larger audience with fewer expenses.

Sales are made using email marketing, social media and websites. The method of selling depends on the company and the type of business or products you are trying to sell, as well as different methods of approaching your prospective clients. You can sign up to offer products through one of the auction sites on the internet (such as Amazon or E-bay) and earn smaller commissions with less overhead. Or, you can offer products directly and cut out the middle man! You can develop your own products very easily and keep all the profits. Or sign up affiliates to market and sell your products for you and pay them a commission and you keep the profits from that! (We will get into this in later articles).

Anyone planning on entering the internet marketing niche should learn at least one of the skills listed above as well as offer a product or service for sale. Internet business is just like every other business. In order for you to be successful, you must look at this as a job and not just fun. Make your business plan; plan your business; earn your money – but more importantly, offer a product or service that will leave the world a better place!

We all know that a lot of money is changing hands on the internet and the amount is growing every day, but how do you get your hand into the game? This article will show you how to get started and start climbing the internet money ladder no matter your level of experience. Never in history have you had so many options available to you at so little expense.

The First Thing To Understand

Platforms! You must understand platforms to get off to a real start to making money on the internet and you have come to the right place. Just because you have an internet connection doesn’t mean you are set to make money, you have to plug into some internet platform to make money. What is an internet platform? The simple answer is they are an organized way to communicate offers and take in the money. A platform is the nuts and bolts that enables you to make an offer, someone see that offer, accept it, then purchase it and often to have it shipped to them. When it comes to making money, platforms are everything.

Here is an important point whether you are on the internet or in the real world: To make significant money you must understand commercial platforms, that means what they are, how they work and how to use them, even how to make them.

Let’s start with a real world example and then take it to the internet world. A Walmart store is a huge money platform. Go to Walmart and you can see the item, pick up the item, know the price of the item, buy the item and go home with it. That is a real world, bricks and mortar platform for making money, but get this, they do pretty much the same thing over the internet on their website as they do in the store. You can’t handle the merchandise, but you can see it in several pictures. Just like the store you can check it out, see the price and buy it. The Walmart brick and mortar store is the Walmart brick and mortar platform and the Walmart internet site is the Walmart internet platform. Simple so far, right? Right!

Take Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Craigslist and Walmart, the internet sites of these companies are all internet money platforms. All of these and many, many more dot-coms are internet money platforms. Not all dot-coms are internet money platforms, but all traditional internet platforms are dot-coms or have a commercial “company name”.com internet address. This may seem obvious, but bear with me. It gets better.

Your First Decision

The first decision you will have to make when it comes to your online business and platform is whose platform will you use, yours or someone else’s? You can sell items on Amazon’s platform or eBay’s platform, any other company’s platform or you can make your own platform. It doesn’t have to be expensive to make your own, but it probably will be time-consuming and even frustrating if you aren’t familiar with things like shopping carts, payment systems and figuring state to state sales tax.

If you aren’t familiar with internet sales and marketing I suggest you practice first by buying some things online and then selling some things online using someone else’s platform. Just about anything you can buy at a bricks and mortar store you can buy online. Get your shopping list and get started. Once you learn how it works you can climb the internet ladder from buyer to seller and on to your own platform if you wish.

What Are The Successful Companies Doing?

When you buy things online first pay attention to how they are presented. Did they use a picture? More than one picture? Other graphics? Buyers Reviews? Did they offer other options? Did they offer an up-sale; offering something more expensive or maybe an accessory or a bulk package of multiple items to make the value of the total sale go up, hence the term up-sale?

Next, notice how you check out. Did you go to another page? Did you go to another company’s website that processed the order? What logo’s did you see along the way? Different credit card companies? Processing companies? Did you see a refund policy?

What options did they offer for shipping? Did they have a standard shipping choice that was included in the purchase price? Did they offer different shipping companies and perhaps the United States Postal Service as an option? Do they offer international shipping? You had better figure that one out when you offer something or you might be unpleasantly surprised to find out how expensive it is to ship 30 pounds of merchandise to a remote area of the world and you were offering free shipping!

Starting With Someone Else’s Platform

So you make oak widgets for the dining room. You thought it would be nice to sell them on the internet. Great idea, but how are you going to do it and how will you get paid? Why not start with someone that has figured that all out? Etsy is a platform for selling arts, crafts and certain other merchandise. That might be a good place to start. Then there is eBay where you can auction off products. Put “selling arts and crafts” into a search engine and you will find many more.

Here is the advantage with eBay or some similar online auction company, if you don’t know what to charge for your product put a few up for auction on eBay and see what they bring. Cheaper than paying a company to analyze your product, search the market for similar items and prices, get back to you in a few months with an estimated market price and a big bill!

PayPal and eBay have split, but it still is nice to have a PayPal account. You can get one and a business debit card for free. I have one in my pocket. Square and other companies process payments online. There was a time you had to go to a bank and pay ridiculously high fees and sign contracts to have a merchant account to process payments online. Not anymore. Don’t like PayPal or Square? Other payment processors are a search engine search away. Speaking of search engines Google has a payment system and so does Apple. It seems like everyone is getting into this, even Microsoft.

What about Craigslist for the things around the house you could trade for cash and not miss? Craigslist is a little different because people often meet in person, exchange the money at the meeting and the buyer simply carries the item home. Still it is a platform and you could learn some things while cleaning out the basement or garage and make money to boot!

Your Very Own Platform

Creating your very own platform doesn’t have to be expensive, but it does involve some work. Buy your domain name from a domain name registrar. Go back to the search engine and find one you like, then enter some choices you like on the registrar’s available name search engine and pick one that is not taken. Should cost about ten bucks and the price of a coffee give or take. Now find someone to host it, that is put it online for you. You can find free hosting using a search engine and if you are learning free is good enough to start.

Follow the hosting company’s instructions to link your domain to their hosting site and you are now on the internet. Well, you do need to put up a website, but you can drag and drop to do that with a little text editing and maybe a picture or two from your smartphone. YouTube has videos that show you how. Weebly is one popular free hosting company, but there are others. Start for free and if you need more options you pick a monthly paid plan that fits your needs.

Digital Product Options

So you finally finished that great novel you have been working on since the kids were in diapers. Amazon has a Kindle eBook service where you can publish a digital book and keep most of the money that comes in from the sales. Maybe you made a three mp3 recorded series on fly fishing or making chocolate cakes or how to do anything. Gumroad is a popular platform for the sales of digital products like these, that means eBooks, videos and courses with multimedia including PDF files for guide and workbooks. Once again, they aren’t the only one.

With digital products there are so many options that it is hard to justify creating your own sales machine from start to finish. I have websites that promote my products and then seamlessly link the buyer to another site and company that handles the sales and downloads.

Promotion

People have to find what you have to sell. If you put your son’s skateboard on Craigslist someone will see it, probably a lot of people. If you put it on your new website there is a good chance that only you and your close friends you show your neat new website to will see it. You have to promote your website and your products if you use your own platform and it doesn’t hurt if you promote them if you use someone else’s platform.

The topic of promotion is much too big to cover here, in fact, if you were to count the content on the internet a large percentage is on this one topic and that is too much to cover in an article. On the other hand I can’t leave you without a clue, back to the search engine and enter terms like “internet marketing,” “internet promotion,” “product promotion,” “advertising on the internet” and you should find more than enough to keep you busy for a lifetime or two. While you are looking, you might as well learn about AdWords, Facebook ads, banner ads and network ads, so enter that in too.

What To Do Next

So what do you do next? Start! Sell something on Craigslist and learn how to set up an account. See how they handle sales. Make a digital trip over to eBay and Etsy to see how they work. If you don’t have something to sell, then keep your eye out for something you can resell. Since you have got that search engine warmed up enter “drop shipping,” “drop ship services” and “drop ship products” to find something you can resell.

In the beginning, Internet abuse laws were drafted to protect internet users from fraud and other types of cyber crime. Laws and policies designed to protect internet users are drafted and enforced by the FCC, or Federal Communications Commission.

As the internet gained popularity, the number of reported cyberbullying cases increased dramatically. When the first cases began to appear, there was little law enforcement officers could do to punish the offender or protect the victim.

In the case of Megan Meier, no charges were ever filed against the bullies who harassed her. The mother and daughter who initiated the ruse created a fictitious MySpace profile for a young man. They convinced Megan that “Josh” liked her and wanted to be her boyfriend. After a few weeks, Megan was told that Josh no longer wanted to talk to her.

The constant barrage of negative comments and veiled threats pushed Megan over the edge. Two weeks short of her 14th birthday, committed suicide. The two perpetrator’s new that Megan struggled with depression and took medication to control her condition.

Internet Abuse Laws

According to law enforcement officers who investigated the incident, for whatever crime they committed, could not be charged because there was no documented charge on the books that for what they had done. No charge existed that fit the description of what they had done. That eventually changed when the Cyberbullying Protection Law was drafted into legislation.

The Cyberbullying Protection Law made it a crime to harass, stalk and bully another person, over the internet. Other pieces of legislation soon followed. Cyberstalking laws were drafted and enacted in every state of the union. Federal legislation was also enacted to protect internet users from being stalked and harassed. Special laws were also passed that were designed to specifically protect minors. Each state was responsible for drafting, approving and enforcing their own versions of the federal Internet laws.

Various Types of Internet Abuse

Internet abuse takes many forms. With the introduction of new forms of technology, the number of fraud and identity theft cases skyrocketed in a few short years. In addition to major financial crimes, the Internet created the perfect medium for the production and sale of child pornography. The inclusion of the internet into public schools taught children how to navigate the world wide web.

As students became more proficient in the use of computers, bullies began to use the internet to stalk and harass their victims. For a bully, the Internet was the perfect medium in which to operate. They could come and go as they pleased without leaving any physical evidence. The best part of them was that they could remain completely anonymous.

Internet Abuse Laws: Cyber Bullying

Internet abuse laws designed to deal with cyberbullying must be drafted in great detail to be effective. In Megan Meier’s case, the legislation came too late. However, the Foundation that bears Megan’s name continues to push for new and improved legislation that will hold cyberbullies accountable for their actions. Members of the foundation have been advocates of change to make sure with each law that gets passed, no more victims will fall through the cracks. It is their goal that for every victim has the guarantee that their bully will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Cyberbullying laws cover a variety of activities that are now considered to be illegal. The following activities are included in many pieces of legislation:

• Stalking using any type of communications device
• Sending threatening texts or emails over cell phones, texts, instant messaging, etc.
• Harassing an individual with repeated attempts at contact either through phone calls or texts, emails, instant messaging, etc.
• Soliciting sexual favors
• Sending or receiving pornographic images of minors
• Interacting with a minor in a sexual manner using any type of device governed by the FCC

Cyberbullying has become one of the fastest growing crimes in history. Before the Internet, a bully could only harass those that were close to their location. Now with the internet as a starting point, they can threaten, harass and stalk individuals who are half a world away. There are few boundaries they can’t cross and they can do it all from the security of their own home.

Individuals who are technologically savvy can hide their tracks fairly well leaving behind few traces for investigators to follow. Those who are exceptionally skilled at hacking and programming can create shields and firewalls that are difficult to crack, even with the advanced systems law enforcement agencies have access to.

Internet Abuse Statistics

Statistics that detail how extensive cyberbullying really is create an incredible picture of just how widespread the problem is. Internet stalking and harassment reports increase daily and from the looks of the numbers, there is no end in sight.

• Over 80 percent of students think that cyber bullies choose to use the internet because they can remain anonymous and it is much easier for them to get away with the crime
• Over two-thirds of the teens surveyed believe that cyber bullying is becoming a serious problem that needed to be investigated further
• Over 40 percent of students admit to having been bullied at least once and out of those numbers at least 1 in 4 claims that it has happened more than once
• Statistics have proven that girls are targeted by cyber bullies twice as often as boys
• The majority of girls who are stalked online are white
• Statistics state that a person who is bullied online is 9 times more likely to contemplate suicide than individuals who aren’t bullied
• Statistics show that only 1 out of every 10 children who are bullied online will report the incident to a parent, teacher or another person in a position of authority.
• Cell phones are increasingly common among middle and high school students. It is estimated that almost 80 percent of students use a cell phone or other electronic device on a daily basis
• Statistics have shown that almost 90 percent of teens have seen or experienced bullying on a social media site such as Facebook and Twitter

Internet abuse laws target individuals who attempt to use the internet as their own personal playground. Cyberbullying and Internet stalking have reached epidemic proportions, causing schools, libraries, and other public places to implement anti-bullying programs to raise awareness about the dangers of surfing the internet without taking adequate precautions.

Anti-bullying programs attempt to teach both parents and children safe ways to navigate the internet without becoming vulnerable to predators and cyber bullies who are capable of hacking into personal computers and other electronic devices. Programs designed to help students remain safe while surfing the web offer tips to the public to help them learn what types of online behavior is acceptable and what should be avoided.

Anti-virus programs are designed to prevent hackers from installing spyware and malware on computers. Hackers attach files to emails and websites so that when a person opens the attachment or clicks on the website the malicious software is downloaded directly to their computer. These programs can take over manual operations of a laptop’s camera or install keyloggers that track the users every move. This allows the hacker to retrieve passwords, codes, confidential banking information as well as a variety of other types of private and personal information.

The term Internet is a contraction of ‘interconnected networks’ and, indeed, the Internet is a gigantic global collection of linked networks. The networks that make up the Internet can range in size from tiny (just two or three connected computers) to massive (thousands of interlinked machines).

An Internet service provider (ISP) is a telecommunications business that delivers Internet-related services such as access to the Internet, domain name registration, website hosting, and so on. ISPs enable you to connect to the Internet.

When you use your computer to access the Internet from your home you most likely connect to an ISP via a modem and a local telephone number or through a dedicated high-speed line. When you connect to your ISP you become part of their network, which allows you to access the Internet.

The computers in the office where you work are likely to be connected together into a network known as a local area network (LAN). This enables the computers in the office to communicate with each other. The LAN is most likely connected to an ISP and this connection enables you to access the Internet from your office computer.

Either way, your home PC or your office LAN becomes part of the ISP’s network. The ISP will link in turn to a larger network to become part of that network. That network will be connected to other larger networks to create a communications system that spans the entire globe.

Thus the Internet is nothing more than a network of networks. These networks connect computers using a wide variety of technologies, including conventional and high-speed telephone lines, fiber-optic cables, microwave links, wireless technologies and satellite communications.

Routers

The networks are connected using routers. A router is a specialized computer that directs traffic on the Internet. As the Internet consists of hundreds of thousands of smaller networks linked together, the use of routers is absolutely necessary.

When you want to visit a particular website, you type the address of the site into your web browser. The address goes to the nearest router and the router decides where that site is on the Internet.

The router also determines the most efficient path through all the networks to reach this destination. This determination is based on the traffic in different parts of the Internet and the available connections.

Higher-level networks

The networks in a particular region may be grouped together into a mid-level network. Or they may be linked in a wide-area network (WAN). A WAN covers a larger geographical area than a mid-level network. If the website you are looking for is within the same regional network or WAN, the router will send it directly to its destination.

However, if the website you are looking for is in another part of the Internet, the router will send your request to a network access point (NAP). NAPs connect high-level networks, ie they allow access to Internet backbones.

The Internet backbones are a collection of networks that link extremely powerful super-computers. The backbones are made up of fiber optic trunk lines (aka OC for an optical carrier). The fastest OCs can transit 2.488 gigabits per second!

There are many high-capacity backbones around the world, all interconnected at various NAPs. They enable everyone, no matter where they are, to communicate freely with everyone else on the planet.

Repeaters

As you can see the Internet is a veritable jumble of interconnected networks. These networks are linked using a variety of communication technologies that vary from very slow to ultra-fast. And, given the way that routers decide the most efficient route, your data may circumnavigate the world before reaching its destination.

For example, a request from a surfer in Dublin to view a website hosted in London seldom travels directly from Dublin to London; it is likely to be sent via the Americas should this be the fastest route (as measured in milliseconds).

The problem is that the further data has to travel, the more it deteriorates or fades. Repeaters are pieces of hardware that amplify or refresh the stream of data. Boosting the data signals enables the data to circumnavigate the globe yet arrive intact at its final destination.

Linking networks

In order to connect the various lower order networks which make up the vastness of the Internet, various types of equipment are used. These include bridges, gateways, and hubs.

Bridges connect LANs. They enable data from one local area network to pass through another LAN en route to yet another LAN.

Gateways are similar to bridges. However, they also translate data from one type of LAN to another. For example, they can translate data from a UNIX system so that it is intelligible on an Intel-based system.

Hubs link groups of networks so that the computers in any of the networks can talk to all the other computers in the other networks.

Servers and clients

All the computers on the Internet are either servers or clients. Servers are machines that provide services to other machines (hence the name).

There are various kinds of servers, each with specific functions. For example, web servers host websites, while email servers send and receive emails. FTP servers (file transfer protocol servers) upload and download files. One server machine may contain software for several service functions.

Clients are computers that are used to connect to servers. For instance, you can connect to any website from your home or office computer. The computer you use is known as a client.

When your client machine connects to a server it will connect with specific server software running on the server. If you are sending an email, for example, your client machine will be talking to the email software on the server.

Conclusion

To recap, the Internet is a single gigantic network of networks that are linked using a wide variety of technologies. The millions of individual networks, small and large, that make up the Internet are owned and operated by numerous individuals, small businesses and large corporations. This means that the Internet is built on cooperation and that nobody actually owns the Internet.

This lack of ownership might suggest that the Internet is subject to disruptions. Not so. When an individual network has problems it merely drops out of the overall network, but only the computers on that network are affected. The computers that were communicating through the broken network, using bridges or gateways, will have plenty of alternate channels for doing their business.