Peer the peers: an overlay id assignment service at internet exchange points

Abstract

P2P networks enable end users to establish services relying neither on a dedicated infrastructure nor on an ISP deployment of enhanced services at the network layer. Regrettably, overlay traffic is not optimal with respect to native connections and peering agreements, but may decrease network quality at end users at increased transit costs. This issue has been addressed by traffic localization approaches: The general objective is to keep overlay traffic local and to minimize provider crossing. Current efforts foster provider-assisted solutions. Overlays, which approximate network paths from the underlay, promise to significantly limit inter-domain traffic. However, ISPs offering transits rejoice in additional traffic and may provide localization data to delocalize peers. In this paper, we argue that ISP interaction should be provided by neutral authorities, namely the Internet exchange points. We present an architecture which serves unstructured and structured overlay peers with a generic overlay ID that jointly reflects AS-paths and peering topologies, and is unbiased by unilateral ISP interests.