Internet Topology & Measurement
This page provides links to many resources that I have found while exploring the topic of Internet topology. I have a great interest in learning more about what the Internet architecture is defined by economic relationships among service providers and how information traverses this web of fiber.
Internet Mapping Efforts
Numerous efforts have attempted to map the Internet, mostly by using traceroutes from a limited number of public traceroute servers.
- Rocketfuel ISP Mapping : Smart ISP mapping effort by Neil Spring while at Washington
- CAIDA Skitter : A well known mapping effort by CAIDA down in San Diego
- Lumeta : Bill Cheswick & Hal Burch's work, including famous network pics
- Opte Project : Strong mapping effort, still alive and well
Traceroutes & Looking-Glass Servers
When exploring Internet topology or routing behavior geographically disperse vantage points are critical. Traceroute and looking-glass servers are located around the world and allow themselves to be publicly queried to provide these different views of the Internet
- Traceroute.org : Extensive list of public traceroute/lg servers sorted by country
- Tracerouters Around the World : Another good list of traceroute servers
- Scriptroute : A remote network measurement infrastructure using PlanetLab
- Traceroutes Servers : Another list of traceroute servers, by country and state
Economics of Internet Architectures
The Internet architecture mirrors the economic relations among the backbone and edge providers that comprise the network. Being familiar with these relationships is critical to understanding where traffic flows on the Internet and why.
- Internet Service Providers & Peering : paper by Equinix that outlines key economic relationships
- Evolution of the U.S. Peering Ecosystem : more in-depth paper from Equinix details recent changes to U.S. peering economics
- Inferring AS Relationships Paper by Lixin Gao at UMass, inferring relationships from BGP
Backbones Maps
Most backbone providers and research networks provide maps of their networks, which can be informative to look at.
- CyberGeography : Older but interesting site with many backbone maps
- MapNet : CAIDA effort to create a Java applet displaying many IP networks
- ISP Planet Backbone Directory : Little articles on major American backbone providers
- Almost all backbone providers have maps of their backbones, just google them!
Research Papers and Technical Reports
- Topology Inference from BGP Routing Dynamics
- The Origin of Power Laws in Internet Topologies Revisited (and the UMich Topology Project Site )
- An Investigation of Geographic Mapping Techniques for Internet Hosts
- Analyzing BGP Policies: Methodology and Tool
- Reverse Engineering the Internet
- On Network-Aware Clustering of Web Clients
- End-to-End Routing Behavior in the Internet
- Measuring ISP Topologies with Rocketfuel
- Quantifying the Causes of Path Inflation
