science

London Internet Exchange

London Internet Exchange is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand London Internet Exchange rather than just read about it. In short: The London Internet Exchange (LINX) is an Internet exchange point (IXP) providing peering to over 950 different autonomous systems (ASNs). Established in 1994 in London, LINX operates IXPs in London, Manchester, Scotland, and Wales in the United Kingdom, as well as in Northern Virginia, United States.

Key takeaways

London Internet Exchange belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect London Internet Exchange to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of London Internet Exchange from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The London Internet Exchange (LINX) is an Internet exchange point (IXP) providing peering to over 950 different autonomous systems (ASNs). Established in 1994 in London, LINX operates IXPs in London, Manchester, Scotland, and Wales in the United Kingdom, as well as in Northern Virginia, United States. Founded by a consortium of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and educational networks, LINX is a founding member of Euro-IX, a Europe-wide alliance of Internet exchanges. It is one of the largest neutral IXPs in Europe by average throughput. LINX functions as a non-profit organization, structured as a company limited by guarantee. Membership involves signing a memorandum of understanding, with each member collectively owning the company. All members hold a single vote at Annual General Meetings (AGMs) and Extraordinary General Meetings (EGMs) on issues related to finances, the constitution, and the scope of LINX activities. The members periodically elect the non-executive board of directors and convene at regular meetings to discuss technical, corporate governance, and regulatory matters. LINX operates under a mandate to avoid direct competition with its members.

History In November 1994, using a donated piece of equipment no bigger than a video recorder and without any written contracts, five UK-based Internet service providers (ISPs) linked their networks to exchange data and avoid paying high transatlantic bandwidth costs. LINX effectively began when two ISPs (PIPEX and UK Net) linked their networks via a 64-kilobit serial link to save the cost and time delay involved in routing data across the Atlantic to US Internet exchanges. When Demon Internet, UKERNA – the UK academic network – and other ISPs showed interest in establishing similar serial links, Keith Mitchell, then chief technical officer of PIPEX, initiated a meeting with BT to discuss the creation of a London-based Internet exchange. PIPEX provided the LINX founders with a Cisco Catalyst 1200 switch with eight 10-megabit ports. Rack space was leased at a then virtually empty data center operated by Telehouse International Corporation of Europe Ltd at Coriander Avenue in London's Dockland. Switching the first data through the Telehouse hub was accomplished by primarily technical specialists who were unconcerned about the formalities of legal contracts. However, while PIPEX continued to provide administrative and technical oversight, the need for a formal constitution was eventually recognized. The solution was to form a company limited by guarantee. Lawyers produced a draft memorandum and constitution which was extensively modified by members. The company was formed in 1995, and a board of five non-executive directors was elected, with Keith Mitchell as the initial chairman.

Not for profit organization From the beginning, it was agreed that LINX would be a non-profit organization run for the benefit of members and governed collectively through regular member meetings, a practice which continues to this day. While PIPEX continued to provide administrative oversight – charged at cost to LINX – member meetings were held every two months (now every three months) to decide strategic direction. Eventually, it was accepted that the purely co-operative system of operation at LINX was becoming overly demanding. Then, in late 1996, Keith Mitchell accepted the role of full-time chairman, working with a personal assistant from offices in Peterborough. In the summer of 1996, LINX became the first Internet exchange in the world to deploy a 100-megabit switch – a Cisco Catalyst 5000. In January 1999, it pioneered the implementation of a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) running over gigabit Ethernet connections. As the Internet grew in popularity, legislators and law enforcement agencies began to call for its regulation. LINX increasingly found itself taking on non-core activities, such as providing expert advice on behalf of its members (and, therefore, the whole industry) to a wide range of official agencies. In 1999, LINX appointed its first full-time regulation officer in Roland Perry to advise organizations such as the Home Office Internet Task Force, the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, the Department of Trade and Industry and relevant departments of the EU Commission. In 2003, Roland was succeeded by Malcolm Hutty when Roland left to form his own advisory group. LINX also actively and financially supports the Internet Watch Foundation which, since 1996, has worked to eradicate child abuse images from the UK Internet. Initial funding from LINX was instrumental in enabling the IWF to launch and the decision to create the IWF and define its charter was taken at a LINX member meeting in Heathrow.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with London Internet Exchange

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what London Internet Exchange claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to London Internet Exchange before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about London Internet Exchange ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of London Internet Exchange

In research: London Internet Exchange appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses London Internet Exchange in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: London Internet Exchange is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Internet exchange points in the United Kingdom, Media and communications in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Telecommunications in the United Kingdom, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for London Internet Exchange outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study London Internet Exchange in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what London Internet Exchange means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain London Internet Exchange out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is London Internet Exchange in simple terms?

Why does London Internet Exchange matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study London Internet Exchange?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on London Internet Exchange.