[RTC List] [Fwd: Re: local hosts - Why are we held hostage?]

[William Van Hefner]

Kevin,

What you are talking about is technically possible, but it is unlikely to
ever happen. The problem is really not so much with DNS lookups. I'm sure
that there are lots of people/businesses in the community who run their
own DNS servers. The real problem is with routing requests. In reality,
there really are no "local" Internet service providers. Everyone up here
subscribes to service either directly from an out-of-town Internet
provider (i.e. AT&T) or from a local company that relies upon connectivity
that is provided by an out-of-town provider (i.e. Humboldt Internet).

The only way to "bypass" the routing of Internet traffic outside of the
area when going from one "local" domain to another would be for all of the
local companies offering Internet access and hosting services to be linked
together using something called peering. In theory, this is entirely
possible. In reality, it is basically an impossible political issue.

Peering is usually done in situations where there is so much traffic
moving between two (or more) different providers that it is in both's best
interest to make a direct connection between one another (i.e. AT&T and
Verizon). The problem is, peering costs money, and most backbone providers
are unwilling to pay for a peering circuit with another provider unless
that provider has a LOT of traffic passing through them. Therefore, you
will not see AT&T being willing to peer locally with anyone, nor would you
see Suddenlink willing to pay for a peering circuit with Humboldt
Internet.

Peering used to be extremely common, and most providers did it in the
interest of reliability of the overall Internet. These days, providers are
doing all that they can to keep most of their traffic local, in order to
make more money. That's why there is such a fight going on for net
neutrality at the moment. Trying to get someone like AT&T to do any
peering in a community as small as this would be like trying to shoot down
a B-52 with a BB gun. It just ain't gonna happen, unfortunately.


-- 
William Van Hefner
President - Vantek Communications, Inc.
e-mail: vantek at humboldtonline.com