Would someone please explain why connecting to MAE East would NOT be as good as connecting to a NAP in the case that Peter ford mentions below?
Gordon: No reason, I think. Providers will make individual decisions, based on their own judgement, guided by technical, financial, and political considerations. I happen to think that the NAPs are a fine thing, be it for primary interconnect, or as a contingency. That should not prevent people to find alternate means of interconnections, if they feel they are more sound for whatever reson they may have. If you were a hard-nosed non-opinionated regional/non-US/whatever service provider, just out to make money with your clients and needing interconnectivity, what would your priorities be? Stability? Cost? Need to reach above the 95th percentile of the community? Reputation? What would be your model and priorities of a good interconnect service provider in such a situation? If you have that model, you could create a matrix and make a solid decision, I would think. Hans-Werner