Internet Reliability with Realistic Peering

Peering between network providers is modeled as a set of interconnections at hub nodes. The paper employs probabilistic methods to determine the likelihood of a path between nodes, under a variety of simulated disruptions or failures of parts of a network. Reliability is measured as the probability of withstanding failure of network components such as nodes or linkages. A reliability envelope is devised in order to define a range of impacts—with the recognition that the damage to subsets of the network can vary from a relatively benign effect to a much more critical or lethal impact. Thus, we describe a range of scenarios from best to worst, within the same level of infrastructure loss. With the use of simulation data for the United States, results show the critical role of major hubs in sustaining communication among cities. In the paper we highlight especially reliable nodes (for example, Chicago and Atlanta) and those that are most susceptible (for example, Birmingham, Alabama, and Nashville, Tennessee). Failure in major hub cities such as Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco would significantly influence adjacent areas and could cause severe degradation for the entire network with a loss of resiliency to below tolerable levels. An important finding is that various patterns in the reliability envelope can be influenced by factors such as network structures, hub structures, and geographical locations.