Last September we asked you for input through our anonymous satisfaction survey, so we could use it to guide our product roadmap for 2022. Today, we are sharing what you told us through the survey and how we’ll be improving PeeringDB and your experience of it in 2022.

Highlights

We had almost 250 responses to the survey, a 25% increase last year. As with last year, respondents identified themselves as connected with organizations operating on every continent and in every part of our industry. Overall satisfaction remains unchanged from last year.

 We asked a few new questions in 2021 and learned

• Almost 70% of respondents use PeeringDB every day or every week. Most of the rest use it every month.
• Under half of the respondents use PeeringDB on a mobile device.
• About 70% of respondents want a way to be notified about changes that are relevant to them.

From the questions that were repeated from 2021, we learned that Network Configuration Data and Search and Discovery capabilities remained the most important to our users.

The User Experience and Web Interface remained the service categories with the lowest satisfaction, although 85% of respondents were still somewhat or very satisfied.

The other lower-performing area was Documentation Quality, which is an area that we started to address later in 2021 and some respondents won't have known about. Work on improving our documentation will continue in 2022.

We hope that these improvements drive satisfaction in 2022.

Roadmap

We have used your feedback, in combination with a focus group consultation, to guide our product roadmap for 2022. The three key focus areas will be:

Introduce a new “Carrier” object

This object will describe providers of high capacity links between interconnection facilities. It was named “Carrier” during the discussion but that is a placeholder that could be changed if it is considered confusing or inappropriate. We are developing a design that will be circulated with the focus group before developing this new feature.

As a new object, we’ll make sure that it is well documented so users can get the most value from it.

Improving the website’s responsiveness

We recognize that the overall visual design needs some improvement. But perhaps more importantly we need to improve page load times. We plan to bring PeeringDB nearer to its users by completing a deployment to a CDN. We have already tested this by deploying beta.peeringdb.com there and we will be moving www.peeringdb.com to it in 2022. We will also introduce modular page rendering, so each element loads via a separate connection, speeding the overall experience.

We will use the CDN metrics to learn more about how www.peeringdb.com is used and that will inform improvements to the visual design.

Continue improving search

2021 saw significant improvements to advanced search and simple search. We will continue to make improvements to search and help users keep the underlying data more accurate.

One example of this is work that’s going on, as I type, at the NANOG 84 Hackathon where volunteer developers are introducing intersection searches. That means you’ll be able to make a single query to find out which IXPs or interconnection facilities have two networks present, such as your own and a desired peer’s.

This is an example of how PeeringDB is developed by its users as well as the core team.

What else? Data Accuracy

We know that we need to do work to improve the quality of data in PeeringDB as it plays such an important role in configuration.

We last looked at this in 2019’s Data Ownership Task Force, whose report acknowledged the shared responsibility for data describing the interconnected nature of separately managed parts of our Internet. We plan to work with PeeringDB users to renew our work in this area so we can continue to improve the quality of data we publish.

We are also setting courses towards increased data accuracy by using the RPKI and Resource Signed Checklists (RSC). We want to use RSC validation to cryptographically validate our users’ ability to control specific Internet Number Resources.

Call to Action

We just deployed two user-developed features: improvements to simple search and OpenID Connect integration. We are keen to include more user-developed code. If you’d like to contribute to PeeringDB then let me know and we can help you.

About PeeringDB

If you have an idea to improve PeeringDB you can share it on our low traffic mailing lists or create an issue directly on GitHub. If you find a data quality issue, please let us know at support@peeringdb.com.

PeeringDB is a freely available, user-maintained, database of networks, and the go-to location for interconnection data. The database facilitates the global interconnection of networks at Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), data centres, and other interconnection facilities, and is the first step in making interconnection decisions.

About the Author

Leo Vegoda is developing PeeringDB’s product roadmap. He was previously responsible for organizational planning and improvement in ICANN’s Office of the COO, and Internet Number Resources in the IANA department, as well as running Registration Services at the RIPE NCC.

The AFRINIC-34 Online Meeting took place online, from 14-18 November 2021.

226 delegates from 48 countries took part in policy development discussions and plenary sessions. The meeting was organised by AFRINIC on the Meetecho platform.

AFRINIC would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to the sponsors: Meta, Team Cymru, DNS Africa, Dot Africa and Emtel Business.

Thank you to all the delegates who attended some 26 sessions which were conducted by 43 experts in the ICT field.

The AFRINIC-34 agenda can be found here (click on the individual session to see all the presentation slides and video recordings from 15-18 November 2021.

The detailed statistics of the conference can be found here.

In case you missed these sessions you may view the detailed Daily Recaps of each day's events can be found here.

The video recording for the Day is published at:

• English: https://youtu.be/PJQp10qnRnA
• French: https://youtu.be/0EzC5COMtk4
• Arabic: https://youtu.be/Qa1XbsYNxD4

The Meeting Platform

For the AFRINIC-34 Online meeting, we have again used the Meetecho platform. Further enhancements were requested for the AFRINIC-34 Online meeting to enhance delegates’ user experience. Meetecho is an online platform that is entirely web-based and does not require software installation.

The platform was accessible from anywhere in the world without restrictions. The platform also offers the integration of a timer, one to one chats, a list of participants visible to all the attendees, speakers ’ slides uploaded on the platform, announcements feature, polling, technical and live streaming support. These features were crucial in determining and choosing the Meetecho platform.

General Improvements from AIS’21

We were pleased to introduce interpretation services for an additional language, namely Arabic for AFRINIC-34 Online.

General improvements were also noted on the audio steaming and translation channels where delegates and speakers joined and listened seamlessly and no major technical issues were recorded.

Thank you for your time and interest in AFRINIC-34 Online.

Our second webinar on securing Internet routing for 2021 is on the topic of Resource Public Key Infrastructure(RPKI).

RPKI facilitates the validation of routing information by other network operators on a global scale and forms one of the fundamental building blocks of routing security on the Internet.

As a network operator, creating RPKI a Route Origin Authorisation (ROA) object(s) that cover all the prefixes you advertise to your BGP peers is the best common operational practice. It is also one of the Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS') actions that a network operator can implement to demonstrate a commitment to running a safe and resilient Internet.

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

1. Explain the different vulnerabilities within the BGP protocol
2. Choose a suitable RPKI implementation model for your network
3. Create digital certificates that prevent your routed prefixes from being hijacked on the Internet

Please use the following link to register, and don't forget to add the event to your calendar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/8616370766414/WN_8znogyAuQMaUwtNfV5z5EQ 

• Date: 25th November 2021
• Time: 12:30 UTC
• This webinar will be in English.

See you at the webinar!

AFRINIC is delighted to announce the launch of the 'Mastering IPv6 Transition Techniques' e-course.

As you know by now, IPv4 and IPv6 are incompatible. However, both protocols need to co-exist as networks transition to IPv6, hence the need for IPv6 transition techniques.

This course covers the three categories of IPv6 transition techniques;

1. Dual-stack,
2. Tunnelling,
3. Translation.

You can register for the course at >> https://academy.afrinic.net/courses/6trans

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

1. Evaluate scenarios that necessitate the use of transition techniques
2. Identify the dual-stack, tunnelling and translation components
3. Demonstrate how dual-stack, tunnelling and translation work
4. Configure and verify dual-stack
5. Configure and verify the specific tunnelling & translation transition techniques

PeeringDB wants input from network operators, exchange operators, facility providers, content distributors, and anyone who uses our interconnection database. We are running an anonymous satisfaction survey until 23:59 UTC on Friday, 8 October 2021, and would like your feedback to help us make PeeringDB more useful to everyone involved in connecting networks.

We had over 200 responses to last year’s survey and those responses helped guide our product development. We’ve made significant improvements to search based on user input, introduced a HOWTO documentation series [https://docs.peeringdb.com/howtos/], and are developing a documentation architecture directly as a result of your input. We’d like more input, in 2021, so we can keep up with the industry’s evolving needs.

Steve McManus, PeeringDB Product Committee Chair, says: "User comments in the 2020 survey helped us focus development where it was most needed. It directly influenced our roadmap and highlighted the need for specific expertise in documentation and user experience design to solve users’ most pressing needs. Thanks to everyone who gives a few moments of their time to help us make PeeringDB a better service!”

In addition to the questions we asked last year, we have three extra questions about documentation priorities, notifications, and user experience on mobile devices. We are particularly keen to improve our understanding of people’s needs for the website as this was the area with the most divided responses last year.

The survey is available in the six UN languages and Portuguese. We’re happy with people providing free text comments in whichever language they are happiest expressing themselves.

We’ll share the results and the new product roadmap early in 2022.

Go to [https://surveyhero.com/c/peeringdb2021usersurvey] and help guide PeeringDB’s future development.

If you have an idea to improve PeeringDB you can share it on our low-traffic mailing lists [https://docs.peeringdb.com/#mailing-lists] or create an issue [https://github.com/peeringdb/peeringdb/issues] directly on GitHub. If you find a data quality issue, please let us know at support@peeringdb.com.

About PeeringDB

PeeringDB is a freely available, user-maintained, database of networks, and the go-to location for interconnection data. The database facilitates the global interconnection of networks at Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), data centers, and other interconnection facilities, and is the first step in making interconnection decisions.

About the Author 

Leo Vegoda is developing PeeringDB’s product roadmap. He was previously responsible for organizational planning and improvement in ICANN’s Office of the COO, and Internet Number Resources in the IANA department, as well as running Registration Services at the RIPE NCC.

At the beginning of the year, a team of AFRINIC staff set out to explore ways to engage more with its members in Africa. This led to the birth of Project “Jenga”. Jenga, which means “Build” in Swahili, aims to build stronger relationships with the African resource holders by organising dedicated sessions to highlight the services offered by AFRINIC and collect feedback and recommendations from our members. This makes Jenga in line with the mission of "Serving the African Internet community by delivering efficient services in a global multi-stakeholder environment".

Over the past few days, the AFRINIC Team has conducted 25 Jenga sessions with Resource Members from 55 countries/economies in our service region. These Jenga sessions were attended by just under 400 participants, with sessions conducted in both English and French.

The main objective of this pilot edition of Jenga sessions was to update members on the ongoing activities. And provide detailed accounts on the external pressure that the organisation is currently facing, particularly the situation whereby AFRINIC found its bank accounts frozen. The Roundtable saw the AFRINIC team discuss this crisis with the members.

During the Jenga session, the team informed Resource Members that AFRINIC had done several things to ensure sustainability. These include:

• AFRINIC has negotiated with suppliers to grant a grace period for payments.
• Agreed internally to cut staff costs by 50% for this period if the situation goes on for a prolonged period than expected. 
• As a last resort, AFRINIC may consider activating the Joint RIR Stability Fund if we do not have any other option. Read more e on the Fund here >> https://www.nro.net/accountability/rir-accountability/joint-rir-stability-fund/ 

During the Jenga sessions, AFRINIC Resource Members engaged in discussions evaluating the operations’ impact and delved into possible scenarios on the way forward. The AFRINIC Resource Members shared different proposals on how AFRINIC can meet its financial obligations and sought clarifications on payments, continuity of core registry function of AFRINIC and explored the impact of the situation to Resource Members in the wake of ongoing misinformation around the crisis. 

The AFRINIC team promised to keep the Resource Members abreast of any new developments and assured the members that the Registry System stability was not at risk and all resource holders will continue to benefit from the registry services. This means that Members can still apply for new resources in the case a member is in need. Therefore, members can settle all their pending invoices as usual.

“Teamwork is the secret that makes common people achieve an uncommon result”
Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha

We are happy with the outcome of the Pilot Jenga sessions that our Resource Members well received, evident in the rich discussions. We commit to doing more of these Jenga sessions in the future. Internally, this Project has helped AFRINIC staff to come together as a team and become stronger through collaboration and innovation even in the face of one of the toughest challenges AFRINIC has had to face and has helped AFRINIC staff members dive headfirst into in AGILE Transformation Journey. Read Avi’s Journey.

To stay updated on the latest developments, subscribe to AFRINIC mailing lists:

• To Subscribe to the AFRINIC Policies discussions mailing list >> https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo.cgi/rpd
• Subscribe to the AFRINIC members-discuss mailing list >> https://lists.afrinic.net/mailman/listinfo/members-discuss
• To Subscribe to Other AFRINIC mailing lists here>> https://afrinic.net/email

We thank our Members and community for their continuous support.

AFRINIC en Avant!