Chapter 2. ISP Services and Characteristics

This chapter covers the following key topics:

  • ISP services— A basic categorization of Internet service providers in terms of physical access methods, basic services, and security options.

  • ISP service pricing— An overview of issues that affect pricing of ISP services.

  • ISP backbone selection criteria— Criteria for evaluating ISPs in terms of their network topology and traffic exchange agreements.

  • Demarcation point— Distinguishing the provider's network, equipment, and responsibilities from those of the customer.

Before we go deeper into the technical subject of interdomain routing, it is important for you to be familiar with some basic provider services and characteristics that affect the quality of Internet connections. Anyone who can offer Internet connectivity could claim to be a service provider; the term "service provider" covers everything from a provider with a multimillion-dollar backbone and infrastructure to a provider with a single router and access server in his garage.

Price should not be the main factor on which you base your decision to select an ISP. What you should really be concerned with are factors such as the provider's services, backbone design, fault tolerance, redundancy, stability, bottlenecks, provider/customer equipment arrangements, and so on.

Routing behaviors on the Internet are affected by how routing protocols and data traffic behave over an already established physical infrastructure. Good infrastructure design and maintenance are primary factors in achieving healthy routing on the Internet.

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