Towards Capturing Representative AS-Level Internet Topologies

TitleTowards Capturing Representative AS-Level Internet Topologies
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2004
AuthorsChang, H., Govindan R., Jamin S., Shenker S. J., & Willinger W.
Published inComputer Networks
Volume44
Issue6
Page(s)737-755
Other Numbers3483
Abstract

Recent studies on AS-level Internet connectivity have attracted considerable attention. These studies have exclusively relied on BGP data from the Oregon route-views [University of Oregon Route Views Project, http://www.routeviews.org] to derive some unexpected and intriguing results. The Oregon route-views data sets reflect AS peering relationships, as reported by BGP, seen from a handful of vantage points in the global Internet. The possibility that these data sets may provide only a very sketchy picture of the complete inter-AS connectivity of the Internet has received little scrutiny. By augmenting the Oregon route-views data with BGP summary information from a large number of Internet Looking Glass sites and with routing policy information from Internet Routing Registry (IRR) databases, we find that (1) a significant number of existing AS peering relationships remain hidden from most BGP routing tables, (2) the AS peering relationships with tier-1 ASs are in general more easily observed than those with non-tier-1 ASs, and (3) there are at least about 40% more AS peering relationships in the Internet than commonly-used BGP-derived AS maps reveal (but only about 4% more ASs). These findings point out the need for continuously questioning the applicability and completeness of data sets at hand when establishing the generality of any particular Internet-specific observation and for assessing its (in)sensitivity to deficiencies in the measurements.

Bibliographic Notes

Computer Networks, Vol. 44, No. 6, pp. 737-755

Abbreviated Authors

H. Chang, R. Govindan, S. Jamin, S. Shenker, and W. Willinger

ICSI Research Group

Networking and Security

ICSI Publication Type

Article in journal or magazine