INX operated Internet Exchange Points offer a BGP Route Server (BGP-RS) service to make the process of sharing prefixes between peers easy. see here https://www.inx.net.za/display/pub/INX+Services#INXServices-BGPRouteServer for more information this.
Many networks connect to the IX, peer with the BGP-RS and send all their prefixes and accept all the prefixes that the route server sends.
This is a quick way to get some traffic on your IX port and improve latency to some destinations. In general, for networks that have an open peering policy, this is a Good Idea.
To check that all your advertised prefixes to the route servers are being accepted have a look at this article https://support.inx.net.za/en/kb/article/checking-the-route-servers-are-accepting-your-prefixes
Some peers, may peer with the BGP-RS and send a subset of their prefixes only. It is best to reach out to these networks to request a bilateral peering session with them.
Some peers, peer with the BGP-RS but do not send any prefixes to the BGP-RS. They use the data they receive from the BGP-RS to decide where to route traffic. For networks that operate in this manner, you will need to setup bilateral peering sessions with each other, in order to receive traffic from them.
There are other peers that do not peer with the RS for various reasons. Some of these networks are happy to setup bilateral sessions if you meet their peering policy critera. This is known as selective peering.
INX allows you to request peering with other participants at the exchanges, through the INX portal at https://portal.inx.net.za/
If you are having problems logging into the portal, you can read our article on How to login to the INX portal here : https://support.inx.net.za/en/kb/article/how-do-i-login-to-the-inx-portal. When you request peering through the INX portal, we use the contact information on record (usually imported from PeeringDB) to send the peering request on your behalf. This is just one more reason, why it is important to keep your peering contact details up to date.
Many of the larger CDNs have moved to an automated methods for BGP sessions configuration, and often require you to log into their portal to setup peering sessions.
Below are some of the CDNs and how to request peering.
Cloudflare
You can visit https://peering.cloudflare.com and log in with your PeeringDB credentials. No need to create an account in someone else's ecosystem.
From the portal you can see where you have sessions configured, and where you could create new potential sessions.
You can also perform some traffic analysis, and request new peering sessions.
Meta (Facebook)
You can visit https://www.facebook.com/peering and log in with your PeeringDB credentials.
Choose the ASN that you want to peer with, and then it will show the IXPs and sessions you already have. You can then request peering from there.
Microsoft
You need to have an Azure portal account, the free tier will do. Log into https://portal.azure.com/ and create peering sessions from there.
There are more details online here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/internet-peering/overview
Google
Google does not peer with the route servers as of the beginning of 2024. visit https://isp.google.com/iwantpeering
If you have a google account you can log into https://isp.google.com and can request peering sessions over the specified IXs.
It is important to note that google requires you to setup both IPv4 and IPv6 BGP sessions from the IP addresses you publish in peeringdb. If any one session does not establish it will not establish any of the sessions. This is good time to setup you IPv6 sessions :)
Amazon
Request peering via their portal https://interconnect.amazon/
Akamai
Send a peering request via the INX portal or check their PeeringDB profile at https://www.peeringdb.com/net/2
Fastly
Send a peering request via the INX portal or check their PeeringDB profile at https://www.peeringdb.com/net/5520
You may also check here for additional information: https://www.fastly.com/peering/
G-core labs
Send a peering request via the INX portal or check their PeeringDB profile at https://www.peeringdb.com/net/5499
Netflix
Send a peering request via the INX portal or check their PeeringDB profile at https://www.peeringdb.com/net/457
Netskope
Note minimum requirement for bilaterals
Send a peering request via the INX portal or check their PeeringDB profile at https://www.peeringdb.com/net/10670
ZANOG (CINX, DINX only)
Send a peering request via the INX portal or check their PeeringDB profile at
https://www.peeringdb.com/net/17650
PCH
Packet Clearing House https://www.pch.net have two ASNs that you will want to setup bilaterals with.
Send peering request via the INX portal or to their peering email address.
BGP.tools
This project is looking for networks to send prefix information to so they have more complete data for their public to use front end https://bgp.tools
