| 1. | Eligibility |
| | 1.1 |
Anyone who operates an independent network in the Makana municipal area is
welcome to peer at GINX. In this context, networks will be considered
independent if they derive their Internet connectivity via a leased line or
other direct means from a point outside the municipal boundary.
|
| | 1.2 |
Prospective participants should announce their intention to peer to the
Systems Manager at Rhodes University, who will call for objections from
existing participants. Only properly motivated objections on technical
grounds can be submitted and, in the event of any such objections being
sustained, the prospective participant may be barred from participation.
|
| 2. | Community |
| | 2.1 |
All active participants in GINX should have an equal say in matters
relating to the technical and administrative running of GINX. In order to
facilitate this, each participant should nominate one person to act as
their representative to GINX. These representatives form an advisory
committee that is tasked with overseeing the administrative functioning of
the exchange including, but not limited to, dealing with disputes between
participants as well as any disciplinary matters.
|
| | 2.2 |
The GINX advisory committee is chaired by the representative from Rhodes
University, who has the right to veto any decision of the committee —
with the proviso that this right will only be exercised in exceptional
circumstances.
|
| | 2.3 |
As a community project, GINX relies on the good faith of all participants.
The only possible penalties for breaking this faith are suspension or
disconnection from the exchange.
|
| 3. | Ownership and Responsibilities |
| | 3.1 |
The core of GINX (including interconnect switching and route server) will
be owned by Rhodes University and hosted at, and operated by, the
Information Technology division at Rhodes University.
|
| | 3.2 |
Anyone wishing to peer at GINX will be responsible for the costs of
installing and operating some form connectivity between their premises and
the peering point at Rhodes. Peering organisations can use whatever means
they like to achieve connectivity to GINX, but should provide Ethernet or
FastEthernet connectivity to the peering point. Each peering participant
retains ownership of any terminating equipment used to connect to the
exchange.
|
| | 3.3 |
In order to meet both technical and access control requirements, no
connections can be terminated at the Information Technology division at
Rhodes without the prior knowledge and consent of Rhodes' Network Manager.
|
| | 3.4 |
The configuration and operation of routing equipment on the peering
participant's premises, as well as any termination equipment needed to
provide the required connectivity at the peering point, will remain the
responsibility of the peering participant. Physical access to termination
equipment at the peering point is restricted and can be obtained by
contacting Rhodes' Systems Manager during normal office hours.
|
| 4. | Peering Arrangements |
| | 4.1 |
GINX is characterized by open peering. All participants in GINX undertake
to peer with all other participants without exception (mandatory
multi-lateral peering). No charges are to be levied for such peering.
|
| 5. | Routing |
| | 5.1 |
GINX makes use of the border gateway protocol (BGP) to propagate routing
information. Only routes that are both local and directly connected to a
peering participant's network should be advertised via the GINX route
server.
|
| | 5.2 |
Each peering participant may only use one autonomous system number (ASN)
when advertising routes. If the participant doesn't have an existing ASN,
GINX's operators will assign them one from the private-use range.
|
| | 5.3 |
All advertised routes should refer to globally-routable network blocks
— no RFC
1918, reserved, private or multicast network addresses
should be advertised. In addition, routes learned via GINX should not be
advertised to any other peering partner or route server.
|
| | 5.4 |
Any intentional attempt to pollute the routing information on GINX's route
server will result in disconnection from GINX.
|
| | 5.5 |
No subnet-directed broadcast traffic, ARP proxying, or non-IP traffic is
allowed within the interconnect switching or routing systems of GINX.
Participating sites should also ensure that they do appropriate ingress
filtering (for example, as per draft-manning-dsua).
|
| 6. | Transit |
| | 6.1 |
No transit shall be provided by GINX without prior authorisation.
Organisations or networks peering at GINX should not propagate or advertise
their default routes. Only solicited traffic directed at other
participants should pass through the exchange; no participant may send data
traffic to another participant if the destination address is not one
they've explicitly learned via a peering session.
|
| | 6.2 |
Participants attempting to use GINX for transit without the explicit
consent of all parties involved, including the GINX advisory committee,
will be disconnected immediately and without prior warning.
|
| 7. | Disclaimer |
| | 7.1 |
GINX operates on a best effort and as-is basis. While every effort will be
made to ensure that GINX provides its participants with reliable peering,
participants should not rely exclusively on GINX for connectivity to other
participants. In particular, participant's routers should be configured to
use their default route in the event of any part of GINX being unavailable.
|
| | 7.2 |
Rhodes University, the operators of GINX, and its advisory committee
provide no warranties and accepts no responsibility for any interruptions
in the services provided by GINX.
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