PeeringDB

PeeringDB
Name	PeeringDB
Type	Nonprofit
Founded	2003
Headquarters	New York City
Services	Database of interconnection facilities, Internet exchange points, networks, and facilities

PeeringDB is an open, user-maintained database that catalogs peering and interconnection information for networks, Internet exchange points, data centers, and facilities. It serves as a centralized directory used by network engineers, operators, and researchers to discover peering partners, plan interconnections, and coordinate operations across global infrastructure. The project intersects operational communities found in organizations such as Internet Engineering Task Force, RIPE NCC, ARIN, APNIC, and LACNIC and is frequently referenced at events like North American Network Operators Group meetings, European Internet Exchange Association forums, and the IETF] ] workshops.

Overview

PeeringDB aggregates records about autonomous systems, Internet exchange points, facilities, and exchange fabric participants to streamline cross-network peering arrangements among participants from Akamai Technologies, Cloudflare, Google, Facebook, Amazon Web Services, and independent network operators. The platform complements tools and registries like Border Gateway Protocol, Whois, RouteViews, and the Resource Public Key Infrastructure ecosystem used by Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Arista Networks, and academic groups at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University. Operators at colocation providers such as Equinix, Digital Realty, NTT Communications, and Interxion rely on the database alongside measurement projects like RIPE Atlas and monitoring systems from Nagios and Zabbix.

History

Originating in 2003 as a community-maintained directory during early peering growth seen in the era of MCI Communications, Sprint Corporation, and the expansion of Level 3 Communications, the project evolved through volunteer stewardship involving contributors from regional groups including Euro-IX and NAP of the Americas. Governance matured with formal incorporation and coordination with registries such as IANA and regional registries including ARIN and RIPE NCC. Major milestones parallel infrastructural shifts associated with major events like the growth of content delivery networks exemplified by Akamai Technologies and large-scale outages that involved coordination across Internet Exchange Points and backbone providers like AT&T.

Data Model and Content

The database models entities corresponding to autonomous system operators, Internet exchange points, facilities, and network peering policies, linking to attributes such as IXP ports, colocation cages, and ASN entries registered through Regional Internet Registrys like APNIC and LACNIC. Records include contact roles that reference professional identities tied to companies such as Verizon Communications, T-Mobile, Telefonica, and cloud providers including Microsoft Azure and Oracle Corporation. Data schema choices mirror standards and operational needs discussed at IETF working groups and reference identifier systems like Autonomous system (Internet), peering LAN descriptions used at exchanges like DECIX, LINX, and AMS-IX, and coordinate with routing security artifacts in RPKI and routing registries maintained by operators and vendors such as Cisco Systems.

Governance and Funding

Governance has transitioned from ad hoc volunteer administration to structured stewardship with a board and advisory groups drawn from major stakeholders including representatives from Internet Society, ISOC, regional exchange associations like Euro-IX, and corporate operators such as Cloudflare and Akamai Technologies. Funding sources historically include memberships, donations, sponsorships from data center and exchange providers like Equinix and Digital Realty, and support from industry events like RIPE Meeting and NANOG conferences. Policy and operational changes are often negotiated among participant organizations including IXP, regional registries ARIN and RIPE NCC, and standards bodies such as IETF.

Usage and Community

Network engineers, peering coordinators, and research teams at institutions like University of California, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University, and corporate labs at Google and Facebook use the directory for peering discovery, operational contact discovery, and capacity planning. The community interacts via channels and meetings at NANOG, RIPE Meeting, APRICOT, and local network operator groups such as UKNOF and JANOG, and integrates the service into tooling like route collectors from RouteViews and measurement platforms like RIPE Atlas. Outreach, training, and documentation activities align with industry events hosted by Peering Forum organizers and operator conferences such as DatacenterDynamics.

Security, Privacy, and Reliability

Operational security considerations involve authentication, data integrity, and prevention of abuse by actors analogous to large network incidents involving Cloudflare and routing events observed by RouteViews and RIPE NCC measurement systems. Privacy practices balance public contact information with personal data protection norms influenced by regulations such as General Data Protection Regulation and operational policies adopted by registries like ARIN. Reliability depends on distributed authoring, backup strategies similar to practices at Internet Archive and resilient hosting across providers comparable to Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform, and coordination during major outages with exchanges including AMS-IX and DE-CIX.

Category:Internet infrastructure