IXPManager

Sponsors’Report

ForYearEnd2017

Thisisthepublicversion.Theonlydifferencestothesponsors’versionisthatwehaveremovedbankstatementsandsummarisedtheincome/expendituretables.

BarryO’Donovan,NickHilliard

Revision1.1,October2017

ExecutiveSummaryInearly2016,INEXrealisedthattofullydevelopIXPManagerintowhattheorganisationhopeditcouldbe,amoresustainablefundingmodelandafulltimedeveloperwererequired.Acallforsponsorship1waspublishedinseveralindustryforumsandweweredelightedwiththeresponse:threeplatinumsponsorsandtwobronzesponsors,whichmet91%oftheprojectedyearonerequirements.

Thesesponsorsare:

Name

InternetSociety

Netflix

SwissIX

NIX(UniversityofOslo)

GRNET

Total €60,240

TheCallforSponsorshipdocumentoutlinedhowwewouldstructuretheprogram,thebudgetrequired,projectoversight,projectmanagementanddevelopmentplans.

Thisdocument,the2017Sponsor’sReport,providesadetailedlistofactivitiesundertakeninthelastyear,andshowsfullcompliancewiththeproject’sdevelopmentplans.

Tosummarise,wehavemetthefollowingmilestonesinthelastyear:

• KnownnumbersofIXPsusingIXPManagerhasgrownfrom26to45knowninstallations.Wefeelthatthisisthebestpossiblepositiveindicatorfromyoursponsorshipandweareproudofthisincrease2.Someofthenewerusershaveallowedustodroppinsinourusers’mapinAsia(ChinaandThailand),CanadaandseveralmoreinAfricaandEurope.

• AfulltimedeveloperwashiredinDecember2016.Thefinancialperiodcoveredbythisdocumentincludessomeexpenditureincurredin2016inadditiontoallexpendituretodatein2017.

• Officialreleaseofversion4(taggedasversion4.5)andafurtherpointrelease,v4.6.• Weexpecttwomorereleasesbeforeyearend2017.• Anewdedicatedwebsite:https://www.ixpmanager.org/.• Anewautomateddocumentationframework:http://docs.ixpmanager.org/.• Newroutermanagementandconfigurationgenerator.

1https://www.ixpmanager.org/sponsorship.php2https://www.ixpmanager.org/users.php

• Patchpanelmanagement,LoAgeneration.• Layer2/MACaddressmanagement.• ReleaseofGrapher,anewgraphinggenerationandmanagementmechanism.• Bespokelookingglassforroutecollectorsandrouteservers.• ContinuedmigrationofcodefromtheendoflifeZendFrameworktoLaravel,a

modernpopularPHPapplicationframework.• Continuedoutreachthroughpresentationsandmailinglists.• Anewlogo.

SponsorshipExpenditureTheintellectualpropertyrightsandcopyrighttoIXPManagerareownedbyINEX(InternetNeutralExchangeAssociationCompanyLimitedbyGuarantee),anot-for-profitindustry-ownedcompanyregisteredinDublin,Ireland.INEXownsandoperatesInternetExchangesinDublinandCork.

Aswedetailedinthecallforsponsorshipdocument,projectdevelopmentforIXPManagerishandledbyIslandBridgeNetworksLimited,acompanyregisteredinDublin,Ireland.ThedirectorsandsoleownersofthiscompanyareBarryO’Donovan,theIXPManagerleaddeveloper/projectmanagerandNickHilliard.BothBarryandNickseparatelycontracttoINEXinoperationalroles.

DevelopmentofIXPManagerishandledonanon-profitbasisbyIslandBridgeNetworksLtd.AllrightstotheIXPManagercodedevelopedunderthissponsorshiparrangementaretransferredbyIslandBridgeNetworksLtdtoINEX.

ThisarrangementisstructuredinthiswaybecauseINEXisanInternetExchangeAssociationandhasnoin-housesoftwaredevelopmentexpertise.Duetoitsconstitutionalneutralityandnot-for-profitcorporatestructure,itisanappropriateorganisationforholdingtheintellectualpropertyandcopyrightownershipofthisopensourceproject.

Underthesponsorshiparrangementasoriginallyproposed-IslandBridgeNetworksLtd:

• RecruitedandhiredasuitablePHPdeveloper.• Providesofficespaceandasuitableworkingenvironmentforthedeveloper.• Handlesallemployeearrangementsincluding:contracts,pay,tax,insurance,other

financial,taxandlegalobligations,annualleave,etc.• Maintainsadedicatedbankaccountforallfinancialmattersrelatingtothisproject

(statementsincludedatendofthisdocument).• Invoicedallsupportingorganisationsonanpre-agreedbasis.

Theyearoneprojectedbudgetagainstactualexpenditureisasfollows:

Budgeted ProjectedY/E2017

Total €65,325 €56,448

Somenotesonthetableabove:

• WehiredYannRobin,thedeveloper,inmid-December2016.Thisincurredsomeexpenditurein2016suchasrecruitmentcosts,logocostsandacoupleofweekssalary.Thefigurespresentedaboveincludethesebutotherwiserelatetothecalendaryear2017projectedtoDecember31st2017.

• Inouroriginalbudget,wedidnotincludearecruitmentfeebutwedidstate:“arecruitmentfeemayalsobenecessaryifitprovesimpossibletofindasuitablePHPdeveloper.HoweverwewillendeavourtodothisthroughlocalPHPusergroupsandthenetworkingcommunity”.Intheend,weusedarecruitmentwebsite.Duringthehiringprocess,offersweremadetotwootherdevelopersbuttheydeclinedtheposition.

• Yanndidnottravelthisyearbutitisintendedthathewilltravelin2018.• WewereabletodefraycloudservicecostsasIslandBridgeNetworkshadaspare

DropboxlicenseandwewereabletogetbywithoutaddingYanntoourZendeskaccount.Ifcircumstanceschange,thisexpendituremaybenecessaryinfuture.

• IslandBridgeNetworksoffersallemployeeshomebroadband.Thiswasaccidentallyomittedfromtheoriginalbudget.

IncomeversusExpenditure

Throughthegenerosityofoursponsors,wehaveraisedatotalof€60,240inourfirstyearofsponsorship.Whenweexcludecapitalexpenditureandotheroneoffcosts,weexpecttheyeartwobudgettobeapproximately€61,000.

Ifourcurrentsponsorsmaintainfunding,ifwetakeintoaccountanexpectedfundingreductionfromISOC,andcarryovertheyearoneexcess,weexpectfundingtobreakevenforyeartwo.

Wewill,however,continuetotrytoattractmoresponsorshiptoreducetheburdenonourexistingsponsorsandtoensureawiderbaseofsponsorsshouldweloseany.Additionally,wewillalsotryandattractsponsorshipfrommoreInternetExchangesusingIXPManagerasitiscriticalforustohaveuserbuyin.

YearOneAchievementsWesetoutthefollowingspecificyearoneachievementsaswellasalongertermthree-yearview.

Notethatwehaveonlybenefittedfromanestimated7.5monthsofproductiveworkingtimefromYann,ourdeveloper,ashestartedmid-Decemberbuttooktwo-weeksunpaidleaveduringtheChristmasperiodandthenrequiredtimetoimmersehimselffullyintotheproject.Weestimatethatthisrepresentsapproximately70%FTEfrommid-December2016tomid-October2017.

Wehavealsopostponedsomeoftheimmediategoalstoachieveothermorepressingandtopicalissues(detailedaftertheinitiallistbelow).

• Installationandupgradeimprovements.DONE:ImprovementsmadetoourVagrantinstallationanddocumentation.Additionally,ascripthasbeencreatedandreleasedwhichfullyinstallsIXPManageronacleanUbuntuinstallation.WewillcontinuetoworkonmakingIXPManagereasiertoinstallandupgrade.

• Dedicatedwebsite.DONE:seehttps://www.ixpmanager.org/

• Newlogo.DONE:visibleontheprojectwebsiteandalldocumentation,includingthecoverpageofthisdocument.

• CompleteandreleaseIXPManagerversion4.DONE:ReleasedinMay2017asv4.5.

• Writewell-structuredanddetaileddocumentation.

DONE:see:http://docs.ixpmanager.org/(andongoing).

• Layer2ACLs–mostIXPsaremovingtowardsstaticL2ACLsratherthandynamicportsecurity.WewantIXPManagertoprovidedatabasemanagement,auser-interfaceforupdatingthem—includingmemberfacingforrouterchanges—andzerotouchprovisioningtoourswitches.DONE:Layer2ACLswerereleasedaspartofv4.5.

• Augmentresellerfunctionalitytoalsoallowfortrunkports(“p-tags”)whichalsorequiresgraphingupdates,peertopeerupdatesanddatabaseschemaconsiderations.WenotethatasmallpartofthisworkwasfundedbyaseparatebountyprojectrequestedandkindlyfundedbyDE-CIX.PARTLY-DONE:Graphingupdatescomplete.

• Patchpanel/crossconnectmanagement.DONE:Releasedastheheadlinefeatureofv4.5andYann’sfirstmajorcontributiontotheproject.Thiswasamilestoneprojectforusandisasignificantpieceofwork,bothinscopeandutilityforInternetExchanges.Detailsandscreenshotsareavailableonthedocumentationwebsite:http://docs.ixpmanager.org/features/patch-panels/

• AddRESTAPIendpointsformembers(e.g.accesstotheirportandpeertopeergraphsprogrammatically).DONE:(andongoing).

• Usethenewdevelopertoprovidefrontlinesupportonthemailinglisttogethim/herfullyimmersedintheproject,itsusersandtheiruserexperienceissues.DONE:(andongoing).

Fromthebroaderthreeyearoutlookwealsoachieved:

• BetterintegrationwithtoolssuchasSmokeping.• Built-inlookingglassforroutecollectorsandrouteservers.• Multiplesecurityauditanalysisfixes

Theaboverepresentsapproximately75%ofourY1plannedgoalsonthebasisofapproximately70%ofadeveloperFTE(full-timeequivalent).Webelievethatthisisanexcellentachievementanddemonstratesstrongcompliancewiththeprojectsponsorshipgoals.

UnannouncedDevelopmentsWehavetwoasyetunannounced/unreleaseddevelopmentsubprojectsthatarebroadlycompletedbutawaitingcodereview,documentationandminortidy-up:

1. Corebundles:MostIXPshavemorethanoneswitchandIXPManagerhaspreviouslynotincludedfunctionalityformanagingthelinksbetweentheseswitches.Yannhasdevelopedcodetosupportthisinfrastructureinthedatabase.ThefeatureallowsIXPstocreateLayer2and/orLayer3internalinfrastructuresandthefunctionalityallowsIXPstoimplementadvancednetworkautomation,internalgraphingsupport,monitoringandalertingsupport,inadditiontoautomatedgenerationofIXPnetworkdiagramsandweathermaps.

2. IXPAutomation:IXPManagercanusethisinformationgeneratethenecessarydatarepresentationsforanIXPtocreateacompleteconfigurationoftheswitchinglayer.CandidateautomationimplementationswillbeprovidedundertheopensourceGPLv2licensebyINEXtointegrateIXPManagerwithNAPALMandtheSaltStackautomationsystem,initiallytargetingAristaandCumulusplatforms.

ThisfunctionalitywillbereleasedinproductionversionsofIXPManagerbytheendof2017.

PublicityIXPManagerhasbeenorisscheduledtobeheadlinedatthefollowingconferencepresentationsbetweenOctober2016andOctober2017:

• IXPManagerWorkshop,Euro-IX28,Luxembourg,April2016• “IXPFlowTelemetryviaIXPManager”,RIPE73,Madrid,October2016• “IXPFlowTelemetryviaIXPManager”,Euro-IX29,Krakow,November2016• ISOCIXPWorkshop,Skopje,Macedonia,November2016• OperationsUpdate,INEXMembers,Dublin,March2017• “IntroductiontoIXPs”,IXPformationmeeting,Beirut,March2017• “CrossConnect/PatchPanelManagement”,Euro-IX30,Spain,April2017• “IXPManagerUpdate”,GPF12.0,NewYork,USA,April2017• “AutomationwithIXPManager”,NLNOG2017,Amsterdam,September2017• “AutomationwithIXPManager”,INEXMembers,Dublin,September2017• “AutomationwithIXPManager”,Euro-IX31,Bratislava,October2017• “AutomationwithIXPManager”,RIPE75,Dubai,October2017

DevelopmentGoals–YearTwoAswellascontinuingworkonautomationandcompletingallremainingactionpointsfromyearone,thefollowingsetsoutwhatweaimtoachieveinyeartwo:

CompletionofMigrationtoLaravelFramework

Underthehood,IXPManagerv4stilldependsonanPHPframeworkcalledZendFrameworkV1,whichwasdeclaredend-of-lifein2016.AnarchitecturaldecisionwasmadetomigratetheapplicationtotheLaravelframeworkinordertoensureIXPManager’slongtermdevelopmentviability.

AllcodewrittenundertheIXPManagersponsorshipprogramhasbeenLaravelcompatible,andworkcontinuestomigratetherestoftheapplication.HoweverasubstantialquantityofolderZendFrameworkcodestillremains.

Weplantocontinuethismigrationand,oncecompleted,releasethisasIXPManagerversion5.

EndUserFacingPortal

WhileIXPManagerhasgainedanlargeamountofIXPoperatorfunctionality,theend-user/end-networkareashaveremainedrelativelyunchangedinseveralyears.

WeintendtocompletelyredesignandrefreshthisareawithamorestructuredUIandUXplanwhichistoinclude:

• Restructuringoftheuserauthenticationmechanismtomaketheuserexperiencesimpler.

• Betterlayoutofusefultoolsincludingtherouteserverprefixanalysistoolandthelookingglass.

• Astatusreportshowinganyissueswhichistoinclude:o errorcountersonpeeringports;o routecollector/server/AS112serviceBGPsessionsdown;ando advertisedprefixcountvsmaxprefixsettingthresholds.

• Amoreintuitiveviewofgraphs.• Abilitytoupdateallaspectsofcustomerinformationincludingbillingdetails,

peering,NOCdetails,portMACaddresses,etc.• IntegrationofIXPmembernews,Twitterfeeds,BlogorLinkedInnewsfeeds,etc.

AuthenticationRedesign

AuthenticationiscurrentlyhandledbyZendFramework.Weneedto:

• MovethistoLaravel.• Removetheusernameandinsteadkeyuniquelyfromemailaddress.• Allowenduserstobeassociatedtomorethanonenetwork(manyengineersare

contractors,andworkformorethanonenetwork).• AllowOAuthauthenticationagainstservicessuchasGoogle,Facebook,Twitter,

LinkedInandGitHub.• BuildaOAuthservicetoworkwithPeeringDB.• Addtwofactorauthentication.

RouteServerPrefixAnalysisTool

Therouteserverprefixanalysistoolisaninvaluableservicewhichhelpsmemberstoidentifyprefixeswhichareblockedbythestrictprefixfilteringmechanismoftherouteservers.

Currentlythistakesaviewfromasinglerouteserverviaascriptthatrunsacoupleoftimesaday.WewanttointroducelargeBGPcommunitytaggingontherouteserversto:

• provideaviewofallrouteserversonallLANs;• highlightwhyprefixesarefiltered(RFC1918,norouteobject,IPv4prefix</24,IPv6

prefix</48,etc);• integratethisfunctionalityintotheBirdsEyelookingglassratherthanastandalone

tool.

AdvancedP2PFunctionality

IXPManager’speertopeergraphingfeatureisoneofitsmostpopularend-userfeatures.Wewouldliketoadvancethisfunctionalitytouseatime-seriesdatabasebackendandpresentmoreuseful,real-timeinformationtoourmembers.

Thisincludestasksandfeaturessuchas:

• SelectionofanappropriatetimeseriesdatabasefromcandidateswhichincludeCarbon(ofGraphite),InfluxDBandOpenTSDB.Theinitialgoalwillbetosupportthe

scalerequirementsofamedium-sizedIXP,andthemechanismwillbeprogrammedtobeabletoeasilysupportotherbackends.TheexistingRRDbasedbackendwillbemaintained.

• Additionoffunctionalitytoprovidemorestructureddataratherthanjustunorderedpeertopeergraphs:toptenpeers,combinedgraphs,unusualtraffic,etc.

• Attempttoautomatetheselectionofsampleratesforportswithlowtrafficratestomoreaccuratelyrepresenttheirtraffic.

• useofpeertopeerinformationtocalculateandgraphoverallpeeringtrafficratherthanjustrelyonportstatistics.

Thisactionitemiscarriedoverfromthepreviousyearonegoals.

InstallationandUpgradeEase

Weplantocontinueworkonsimplifyingtheinstallationandupgradeprocedurethroughtheuseofaweb-basedinstallationwizardtoaskrelevantquestionsandhandlemostofthetasksautomatically.

SomeprogresstowardsthishasalreadybeenmadethroughtheuseofVagrantforsettingupfullyfunctionaldevelopmentboxeswithjustthreecommands,andafullyautomatedinstallationscripttoinstallIXPManageronabarebonesUbuntudistribution.

DevelopmentOutlookOutsideoftheimmediateyeartwogoalsmentionedabove,wehaveplansthatwewouldliketoachieveoveralongertimeline,whichinclude:

• ContinuedintegrationofIX-FMemberSchematargetingexporttoIX-FIXPdatabaseandPeeringDB.

• CompletionofHelpdeskintegration.• Intelligentstream-linedprovisioningofnewportsandupgrades.Thisislessabout

automationandmoreabouttheend-userrequestandfulfilmentexperience.• Continuetoworkoncollateralsuchasrecordedtutorialvideos,in-person

workshops,continuationandimprovementofIXPManagerdocumentation.• Developon-demandprovisioningviaqueuingmechanisms.Thismeans,forexample,

ratherthanhavingtowaitforabatchjobtorunatdesignatedtimestohavenewrouteserversessionsprovisioned,theycanbeprovisionedondemand.

• FurtherdevelopmentMyPeeringManagertoincluderouteserversessionmanagement,forexampleallowingmemberstooptin/outofpeeringwithcertainothermembersontherouteserverswithouthavingtorelyoncommunitytagging.

• EmbarkonprojectssuchasmoreintelligentmonitoringofcustomerpeeringsessionsviaservicessuchasRIPEAtlas.

• Customeraudit–automatedreviewofacustomer’sservicesandhighlightissuessuchasporterrors;inactiveBGPsessionswithroutecollector/routeserver/AS112,etc.;portsspikingathighutilisationrates;missingsessionswithpeerswithopenpolicies,etc.

• Internationalisationandlocalisationofthecustomerfacingareas.WhileEnglishmaybethepredominantlanguageinthenetworkingindustry,endusersofIXPManagershouldbeabletointeractintheirownlanguage.

AccountingLedgerandBankStatementsWhatfollowsistheaccountingledgerforyeartodatewithprojectedvaluestoyearend2017.

Thefollowingnotesaccompanytheledger:

• Alldocuments,invoicesandbankstatementsrelatingtothisareavailabletothesponsorsonrequest.IslandBridgeNetworksLimitedmaintainsadedicatedbankaccountforthisprojectandcansharealldocumentsviaDropbox.

• Allofficeexpenditurefigureswhichmention“20%”relatetothefactthatYannis1of5peoplebasedinIslandBridgeNetworks’offices.ThispercentagewilldecreaseifIslandBridgeNetworkshiresadditionalstaff.

• InIreland,allemployersareobligedtoremitEmloyers’Pay-RelatedSocialInsurancetotheIrishtaxauthorities.Employer’sPRSIisleviedatvaryingrates(8.5%and10.75%forPRSIClassAemployees),isleviedontopoftheemployee’sgrosssalary,andisseparatetoEmployee’sPRSI.FurtherinformationaboutEmployer’sPRSIcanbefoundonthewebsiteoftheDepartmentofEmploymentAffairsandSocialProtection.

Omittedfrompublicversion,availabletosponsors.