At 2:12 PM 4/30/96, Matt Zimmerman wrote:
... Setting aside the technological barriers to such an arrangement, an optimal configuration would be one in which all routing entities peer with one another at all available locations, so as to provide the shortest path between routing communities.
I believe that the optimal configuration would actually involve only one routing entity and no peering at all. I'm pleased that instead we've implemented a model which (while not optimal) allows for a growing Internet service provider industry. Solutions which are optimal under one constraint tend to degenerate in the real world. Shortest-exit routing and equivalent distributed peering is used to avoid settlements for transit costs. If there's a strong demand for dissimiliar peering, then it's likely to appear with settlements. /John