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Connect Working Group Minutes RIPE 90

Connect Working Group Minutes RIPE 90
Thursday, 15 May 09:00 - 10:30 (UTC+1)
Chairs: Paul Hoogsteder, Stavros Konstantaras, Will van Gulik

Scribe: Alun Davies
Status: Draft

1. Opening & Housekeeping

WG Chairs

Will van Gulik welcomed attendees, introduced his co-Chairs, and ran through the agenda for the session. He noted that the RIPE 89 minutes had not been published due to a miscommunication and apologised. With that, the session began.

2. PeeringDB Updates

Leo Vegoda

The presentation is available at:
https://ripe90.ripe.net/archives/video/1636

Leo Vegoda presented recent updates from PeeringDB, including results from board elections, enhancements to the web interface and search functionality, and the introduction of features such as a facility/IXP comparison tool. He announced mandatory two-factor authentication from July 2024, discussed planned improvements to the UI rollout process, and encouraged users to submit feature suggestions. There were no questions from the audience.

3. Building a Secure Test Environment for an IXP

Marta Burocchi, Lorenzo Ariemma

The presentation is available at:
https://ripe90.ripe.net/archives/video/1638

Marta Burocchi described Namex’s development of Digital Twin, a secure pre-production environment that mirrors the peering LAN so users can test services before deploying them. Marta detailed the architecture and use of Docker/Kubernetes for scalability. Lorenzo Ariemma followed with an overview of Katharà’s role in the project.

Marco d’Itri (Seeweb, DHH) commended Namex for using real IP addresses rather than RFC 1918 space in their testing environment, noting this is still not the norm at some other IXPs. Marta thanked him for the feedback.

Chris Grundemann (BCIX) asked whether Katharà simulates only connected networks or also the IXP infrastructure itself. Marta clarified that the entire LAN, including peers and route servers, is emulated based on real configuration files, running inside containers. Chris followed up by asking whether any special images or hardware vendor software were needed to emulate routers. Marta replied that the project focuses on Layer 3 and BGP behaviour, using simplified switches and standard containers. No vendor images were used, but the framework could potentially be extended for more complex testing.

There were no further questions.

4. Migrating an IXP from VPLS to EVPN

Greg Hankins

The presentation is available at:
https://ripe90.ripe.net/archives/video/1640

Greg Hankins shared details of NYIIX’s migration from an outdated VPLS-based design to a modern EVPN/SR-MPLS architecture using Nokia platforms. Greg described the benefits of EVPN, ContainerLab’s role in pre-deployment testing, and the streamlined migration approach that involved a simple cable swap after building a parallel network.

There were no questions from the audience.

5. A comprehensive analysis of the IRR landscape

Stavros Konstantaras

The presentation is available at:
https://ripe90.ripe.net/archives/video/1641

Stavros Konstantaras and Matthias Hannig presented a joint AMS-IX and DE-CIX study examining the global IRR landscape, prompted by a BCP proposal from RIPE 86. The study analysed the completeness, consistency, and update frequency of IRR data. It concluded that authoritative IRRs (those operated by RIRs) provide more accurate and reliable data than third-party IRRs, with RADB in particular hosting many outdated or vulnerable objects. They also examined how legacy space is managed, concluding that only ARIN restricts IRR access for legacy holders without a contract, while other RIRs are more flexible.

Randy Bush (Arrcus) questioned the relevance of measuring impact based on European exchanges, given that most legacy space resides in the ARIN region. He also expressed concern about centralising IRR policy at IXPs, stating that the decentralised nature of the internet is a core strength. Stavros replied that the proposal focuses on the European IXP context and that traffic from North America is less relevant to the systems under review.

Andrei Robachevsky (Global Cyber Alliance) expressed strong support for the study and noted that it could help encourage wider adoption of RPKI, especially in environments like CDNs and cloud networks. They highlighted that MANRS had faced similar concerns when designing IRR-related actions in 2021 and praised the data-driven approach.

Angela Delara (RIPE NCC) linked the findings to current policy discussions. She explained that APNIC’s campaign to reclaim legacy space followed a community-driven policy change and mentioned an ongoing policy proposal in LACNIC. Angela encouraged community input to help define service models for legacy holders in the RIPE region.

No further questions were raised.

6. Closure

WG Chairs

Will van Gulik thanked the speakers, attendees, stenographer, and scribe. He reminded attendees to vote in the Programme Committee election and rate the talks. The session ended ahead of schedule.