Hurricane Electric

Last updated

Hurricane Electric
Company type Private
Industry Internet service provider
Founded1994;30 years ago (1994)
Headquarters Fremont, California, United States
Key people
Mike Leber, founder
ServicesIP transit, colocation, dedicated servers
ASN
Peering policy Open
Website www.he.net

Hurricane Electric is a global Internet service provider offering Internet transit, tools, and network applications, [1] as well as data center colocation and hosting services at one location in San Jose, California [2] and two locations in Fremont, California, [3] where the company is based.

Contents

As of June 2024, according to its own data, Hurricane Electric is the largest global IP network as measured by network adjacencies in both IPv4 and IPv6. [4] It is also the largest global IPv6 network as measured by IPv6 prefixes announced, and the fifth-largest global IP network as measured by IPv4 prefixes announced, according to its own data. [5]

IPv6

Hurricane Electric operates the largest Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) transit networks globally, as measured by the count of peering interconnections to other networks. [6] [ better source needed ] The majority of these adjacencies are native IPv6 BGP sessions.

Hurricane Electric offers an IPv6 tunnel broker service, [7] providing free connectivity to the IPv6 Internet via 6in4 IPv6 transition mechanisms. Prior to 2020, the service allowed users to peer with Herrican Electric over the tunnel using Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) to announce their routes. Users attempting to sign up to use BGP over a tunnel received a message that they were no longer available for free due to abuse. Regular tunnels remain available. [8] The company provides an online IPv6 certification program to further education and compliance in IPv6 technology. [9] [10] As of June 18,2024, the company reports 52,760 provisioned tunnels spanning 174 countries [11] via the IPv6 tunnel broker. 21,512 individuals in 164 countries have reached the highest level of the IPv6 certification. [12]

Peering

Within its global network, Hurricane Electric is connected to more than 310 major exchange points [13] [14] and exchanges IP traffic directly with more than 10,325 different networks. [15] Hurricane Electric currently has 30+ Terabits per second active public peering capacity and 200+ Terabits per second active private peering capacity. [13] [16]

The European Internet Exchange Association (Euro-IX) ranks Hurricane Electric first in the world for the number of connections to Internet exchange points, with presence at more than 170 of Euro-IX member IXPs. [17] [18]

Cogent dispute

There is a long-running dispute between the provider Cogent Communications and Hurricane Electric. Cogent has been refusing to peer settlement-free with Hurricane Electric since 2009. [19] [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IPv6</span> Version 6 of the Internet Protocol

Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic across the Internet. IPv6 was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to deal with the long-anticipated problem of IPv4 address exhaustion, and was intended to replace IPv4. In December 1998, IPv6 became a Draft Standard for the IETF, which subsequently ratified it as an Internet Standard on 14 July 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Border Gateway Protocol</span> Protocol for communicating routing information on the Internet

Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is a standardized exterior gateway protocol designed to exchange routing and reachability information among autonomous systems (AS) on the Internet. BGP is classified as a path-vector routing protocol, and it makes routing decisions based on paths, network policies, or rule-sets configured by a network administrator.

In computer networking, peering is a voluntary interconnection of administratively separate Internet networks for the purpose of exchanging traffic between the "down-stream" users of each network. Peering is settlement-free, also known as "bill-and-keep" or "sender keeps all", meaning that neither party pays the other in association with the exchange of traffic; instead, each derives and retains revenue from its own customers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tier 1 network</span> Top level network on the internet

A Tier 1 network is an Internet Protocol (IP) network that can reach every other network on the Internet solely via settlement-free interconnection. Tier 1 networks can exchange traffic with other Tier 1 networks without paying any fees for the exchange of traffic in either direction. In contrast, some Tier 2 networks and all Tier 3 networks must pay to transmit traffic on other networks.

A virtual private network (VPN) is a mechanism for creating a secure connection between a computing device and a computer network, or between two networks, using an insecure communication medium such as the public Internet.

Internet exchange points are common grounds of IP networking, allowing participant Internet service providers (ISPs) to exchange data destined for their respective networks. IXPs are generally located at places with preexisting connections to multiple distinct networks, i.e., datacenters, and operate physical infrastructure (switches) to connect their participants. Organizationally, most IXPs are each independent not-for-profit associations of their constituent participating networks. The primary alternative to IXPs is private peering, where ISPs directly connect their networks to each other.

In computer networking, Teredo is a transition technology that gives full IPv6 connectivity for IPv6-capable hosts that are on the IPv4 Internet but have no native connection to an IPv6 network. Unlike similar protocols such as 6to4, it can perform its function even from behind network address translation (NAT) devices such as home routers.

anoNet is a decentralized friend-to-friend network built using VPNs and software BGP routers. anoNet works by making it difficult to learn the identities of others on the network allowing them to anonymously host IPv4 and IPv6 services. One of the primary goals of anoNet is to protect its participants' rights of speech and expression.

In the context of computer networking, a tunnel broker is a service which provides a network tunnel. These tunnels can provide encapsulated connectivity over existing infrastructure to another infrastructure.

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. is a multinational internet service provider based in the United States. Cogent's primary services consist of Internet access and data transport, offered on a fiber optic, IP data-only network, along with colocation in data centers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Internet Exchange</span> Not-for-profit Internet Exchange Point

The Toronto Internet Exchange Community (TorIX) is a not-for-profit Internet Exchange Point (IXP) located in a carrier hotel at 151 Front Street West, Equinix's TR2 data centre at 45 Parliament Street and 905 King Street West in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. As of March 2021, TorIX has 259 unique autonomous systems representing 285 peer connections and peak traffic rates of 1.344 Tbps, making it the largest IXP in Canada. According to Wikipedia's List of Internet Exchange Points by Size, TorIX is the 16th largest IXP in the world in numbers of peers, and 17th in the world in traffic averages. The Exchange is organized and run by industry professionals in voluntary capacity.

In Internet routing, the default-free zone (DFZ) is the collection of all Internet autonomous systems (AS) that do not require a default route to route a packet to any destination. Conceptually, DFZ routers have a "complete" Border Gateway Protocol table, sometimes referred to as the Internet routing table, global routing table or global BGP table. However, internet routing changes rapidly and the widespread use of route filtering ensures that no router has a complete view of all routes. Any routing table created would look different from the perspective of different routers, even if a stable view could be achieved.

An IPv6 transition mechanism is a technology that facilitates the transitioning of the Internet from the Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) infrastructure in use since 1983 to the successor addressing and routing system of Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6). As IPv4 and IPv6 networks are not directly interoperable, transition technologies are designed to permit hosts on either network type to communicate with any other host.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle Internet Exchange</span>

The Seattle Internet Exchange (SIX) is an Internet exchange point in Seattle, USA. Its switch fabric is centered at the Westin Building and extended to KOMO Plaza, Sabey Intergate, and other locations. The SIX is one of the most successful examples of neutral and independent peering points, created as a free exchange point originally sponsored only by donations. The SIX is the most frequently cited model upon which other neutral Internet exchanges are based, and its financial and governance models are often cited as inspiration for other exchanges. It continues to run without any recurring charges to the participants and current major funding comes from one-time 10, 100, and 400 Gbit/s port fees, as well as from voluntary contributions from stakeholders. The SIX is a 501(c)(6) tax-exempt non-profit corporation.

The deployment of IPv6, the latest version of the Internet Protocol (IP), has been in progress since the mid-2000s. IPv6 was designed as the successor protocol for IPv4 with an expanded addressing space. IPv4, which has been in use since 1982, is in the final stages of exhausting its unallocated address space, but still carries most Internet traffic.

dn42 is a decentralized peer-to-peer network built using VPNs and software/hardware BGP routers.

The YYCIX Internet Exchange Community Ltd (YYCIX) in Calgary, Canada is the first Internet exchange point (IXP) in Alberta. It allows the local exchange of Internet traffic between members, staying within Canadian jurisdiction, optimizing the performance and economy of traffic flows, and limiting the potential for extra-legal surveillance. The YYCIX follows IXP best-practices, in that it is neutral and independent, has no mandatory fees, and is supported entirely through voluntary donations. The YYCIX is incorporated as a Canadian tax-exempt non-profit corporation.

France-IX is a Paris-based Internet exchange point (IXP) founded in June 2010 as a membership organisation. As of 21 July 2021 it interconnects more than 496 members, making it the largest IXP in France.

Grenoble Internet eXchange or GrenoblIX is the Internet eXchange point (IXP) of Grenoble in Isère and Auvergne – Rhône-Alpes region. GrenoblIX allows to the connected members to exchange traffic in order to avoid routing through faraway infrastructures. This Internet eXchange point is managed by the non-profit organization Rezopole, founded in 2001.

Mumbai Internet Exchange is a subsidiary of the German Internet exchange point (IXP) DE-CIX, founded on 15 August 2014 as Mumbai Convergence Hub as an Open Carrier Neutral Internet Exchange & Peering Hub. As of 30 March 2021 it interconnects more than 375 members, making it the largest IXP in India and surrounding region.

References

  1. Cherry, Steven (January 27, 2011). "IPv6 is Coming--Just in Time". IEEE Spectrum . Archived from the original on January 31, 2011.
  2. "Colocation at Hurricane Electric". Hurricane Electric Internet Services. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  3. "About Hurricane Electric". Hurricane Electric Internet Services. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  4. "BGP Peer Report: Adjacencies". Hurricane Electric BGP Toolkit. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  5. "BGP Peer Report: Prefixes". Hurricane Electric BGP Toolkit. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  6. Huston, Geoff. "AS's ordered by AS Adjacency".
  7. Henderson, Nicole (June 6, 2011). "Hurricane Electric Launches Premium IPv6 Tunnel Broker Service". Web Host Industry Review. Archived from the original on November 17, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  8. blondguy (April 23, 2020). "Hurricane Electric no longer offers free BGP tunnels". r/ipv6. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  9. Deploy360 Programme. "Training: Hurricane Electric Free IPv6 Certification". Internet Society (ISOC). Archived from the original on July 3, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2012. Hurricane Electric offers a series of free IPv6 "certification exams" aimed at helping you demonstrate your familiarity with IPv6 concepts and your ability to correctly configure IPv6 systems. Registration is free.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. Salmela, Jacob (November 3, 2013). "Earning the IPv6 Certification from Hurricane Electric on Mac OS X". Archived from the original on April 16, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
  11. "Tunnels By Country". Hurricane Electric Internet Services. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  12. "IPv6 Sages by Region". Hurricane Electric Internet Services. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  13. 1 2 "Hurricane Electric Peering Policy". Hurricane Electric Internet Services. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  14. "Internet Exchange Report: - Exchange Participants". Hurricane Electric BGP Toolkit. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  15. "AS6939 Hurricane Electric LLC". Hurricane Electric BGP Toolkit.
  16. "IP Transit". Hurricane Electric Internet Services. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  17. "Hurricane Electric". Euro-IX.net IXPDB. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  18. "IXPDB ASNs sorted by number of IXP connections". Euro-IX.net IXPDB. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
  19. McCarthy, Kieren (August 28, 2018). "Another problem with IPv6: It's sparked a punch-up between top networks". The Register .
  20. Leber, Mike (October 12, 2009). "IPv6 internet broken, cogent/telia/hurricane not peering". NANOG mailing list.