Re: Overseas connections a waste of time???

["C. Oda" <craig@example.com>]

The connection speeds inside of Japan are much higher than
the connection speeds to places outside of Japan for 
must ISPs in Japan.  The instrastructure among Japanese
providers has improved recently.  Just as examples:
IIJ has a 45Mps feed to NSPIXP and redundant 1.5Mpbs
feeds to WIDE.  They are also connected to Tokyo Internet
with 100Mbps ethernet at their Network Operations Center.

I am connected to SprintLink, but my speed to someplace
like Tokyo Internet is quite fast:

beehive:~$ ping www.tokyonet.ad.jp
PING www.tokyonet.ad.jp: 64 byte packets
64 bytes from 202.239.61.53: icmp_seq=0. time=52. ms
64 bytes from 202.239.61.53: icmp_seq=1. time=40. ms
64 bytes from 202.239.61.53: icmp_seq=2. time=78. ms
64 bytes from 202.239.61.53: icmp_seq=3. time=37. ms


beehive:~$ ping home.netscape.com                                       
PING www30.netscape.com: 64 byte packets
64 bytes from 207.12.240.31: icmp_seq=0. time=222. ms
64 bytes from 207.12.240.31: icmp_seq=1. time=271. ms
64 bytes from 207.12.240.31: icmp_seq=2. time=220. ms


beehive:~$ ping gol.com
PING gol.com: 64 byte packets
64 bytes from 202.243.48.4: icmp_seq=0. time=679. ms
64 bytes from 202.243.48.4: icmp_seq=1. time=386. ms
64 bytes from 202.243.48.4: icmp_seq=2. time=437. ms


Traceroutes often identify bottlenecks to a Japanese
site at places not related to NSPIXP or WIDE.

For some reason, traffic from Japanese sites to gol is being
routed through California in the U.S.  Route 5 is the Sprint
switching point in stockton California.  The return times
jumpt from about 50 to 220ms when the signal leaves 
Tokyo. 

[root@example.com /root]# traceroute gol.com
traceroute to gol.com (202.243.48.4), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets
 1  p50 (202.237.148.224)  1.646 ms  1.626 ms  1.558 ms
 2  pollux.twics.com (192.135.222.11)  36.347 ms  33.233 ms  32.614 ms
 3  sprint.twics.com (192.135.222.10)  35.833 ms  35.128 ms  34.519 ms
 4  gsl-tokyo-2-Serial2/1.gsl.net (204.59.68.41)  90.135 ms  91.93 ms
68.488 ms
 5  gsl-tokyo-1-Fddi1/0.gsl.net (204.59.64.193)  52.751 ms  45.945 ms
53.945 ms
 6  gsl-stock-1-Serial2/2.gsl.net (204.59.128.13)  226.987 ms  222.615 ms
282.634 ms
 7  204.59.128.78 (204.59.128.78)  335.042 ms  340.507 ms  327.174 ms
 8  158.205.224.34 (158.205.224.34)  324.094 ms  356.043 ms  322.572 ms
 9  158.205.226.14 (158.205.226.14)  351.348 ms  334.636 ms  346.994 ms
10  gol1.gol.com (202.243.48.4)  332.675 ms  336.171 ms  397.034 ms


However, Tokyo Internet is using a Japanese switching point:

[root@example.com /root]# traceroute www.tokyonet.ad.jp
traceroute to www.tokyonet.ad.jp (202.239.61.53), 30 hops max, 40 byte
packets
 1  p50 (202.237.148.224)  1.654 ms  1.603 ms  1.561 ms
 2  pollux.twics.com (192.135.222.11)  35.876 ms  32.857 ms  33.479 ms
 3  sprint.twics.com (192.135.222.10)  36.061 ms  34.82 ms  35.299 ms
 4  gsl-tokyo-2-Serial2/1.gsl.net (204.59.68.41)  47.919 ms  137.199 ms
81.219 ms
 5  gsl-wide-Serial2/0.gsl.net (204.59.68.10)  53.707 ms  171.424 ms
186.109 ms
 6  tokyonet.nspixp.wide.ad.jp (202.249.3.38)  62.353 ms  56.292 ms
53.931 ms
 7  lcisco000-serial1-1.tokyo3.TokyoNet.AD.JP (202.239.61.2)  67.761 ms
67.031 ms  66.23 ms
 8  www.TokyoNet.AD.JP (202.239.61.53)  75.899 ms  67.471 ms  120.292 ms


         ------

Leased line prices to NTT just dropped if you live
in Tokyo.  Within 15 km the leased line price for 64Kbps is
28,000 yen per month.  Internet port charges from ISPs vary from
50,000 to 600,000 yen per month.    NTT's proposed OCN network
will probably be the cheapest in Japan at around 25,000 yen/month.
However, Tokyo Internet and IIJ are probably going to try
and keep their port charges at around 90,000 yen/month.  


        ------

How does all this relate to Linux in Japan?  Well, I'm very
satisfied with the connection of my Linux box to the Internet.
I home box has 128Kbps ISDN with STAC compression.  However, I almost
always only use one B channel at 64Kbps.  For me, it is
fast enough.  I get good performance with X-Windows or whatever
else I want to do.  I doubt that many home users will get
a leased line in 1997.  The prices are just too high and I
really don't see a need for it unless, the home user wants
to set up a BBS.  One issue I do see is with the planned
TLUG demonstration machine.  If we ever get a manufacturer
to donate a machine to us, we may want to get a permanent
Internet connection to the machine so genki TLUGers can
plan on it from the comfort of their home. 




-------------
Craig Oda 	craig@example.com	
TWICS - Japan's First Public-Access Internet System, 
   TWICS - IEC Building, 1-21 Yotsuya, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160 JAPAN
Main Reception: 03-3351-5977	Fax: +81-3-3353-6096
Customer Service: 3351-5481   Corporate Sales/Support: 3351-8452

-----------------------------------------------------------------
a word from the sponsor will appear below
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The TLUG mailing list is proudly sponsored by TWICS - Japan's First
Public-Access Internet System.  Now offering 20,000 yen/year flat
rate Internet access with no time charges.  Full line of corporate
Internet and intranet products are available.   info@example.com
Tel: 03-3351-5977   Fax: 03-3353-6096