WHAT DOES INFRASTRUCTURE MEAN?

Transcription

1 WHAT DOES INFRASTRUCTURE MEAN? Lars-Johan Liman Sr. Systems Specialist Netnod Internet Exchange, Stockholm, Sweden, v1.6

2 Infrastructure The installations that form the basis for any operation or system. Qualified:... required for the operations of a society. 2

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8 Classic Infrastructure, e.g.: Life support: Water provisioning, fuel, electric power, district heating Trade: Ports, roads, railroads, airports Communication: Physical: ports, roads railroads, airports Logical: mail, telegraphy, telephony (land and mobile), Internet. 8

9 Internet? Is the Internet infrastructure? Yes, without any doubt. So... how does it compare to traditional infrastructure? 9

10 Typical Properties Anybody can use it. Different cultures and languages. Multi-purpose. Flat fee (tax?). Enables business and trade. Dependable and predictable support in crises. Invisible part of everyday life. Large, expensive, longterm investment. Regulated. Cross-dependencies... The value is bigger than the sum of the costs. Event, plats, YYYY-MM-DD, Föredragshållare, Ev. annan info 10

11 Communication using infrastructure End-to-end Integrity Conformance 11

12 Everyone? Is the Internet for everyone? Yes, of course it is! (This is silly!) 12

13 Really everyone? Grandmother? 2-year-old? The farmer in Zimbabwe? The politician in Gaza? Watch out for the digital divide! Education, learning curve, generations. New problem? No. 13

14 Multi-purpose Check! The amount of applications on the Internet is mind boggling! The end-to-end model has enabled great freedom of innovation.... and business! 14

15 More properties... Enables business and trade. [Check!] Encouraged by flat fee? Dependable and predictable support in crises. [Check!] New soft forms of crises. Invisible part of everyday life. [Almost there...] Large, expensive, long-term investment. [Yup!] Regulated. [Depends...] Cross-dependencies... [Sure!] 15

16 But how come it works? Infrastructure only works if we cooperate, share, and respect each other. 16

17 Soft infrastructure? Laws, regulations, and conventions. These tell us how to behave, and what to expect from others = "protocol". Make society thrive. Process for creating law. Law enforcement. Governance / government. 17

18 On the net? ICANN Multistakeholder model RIPE / RIPE NCC National regulatory bodies Classic law enforcement. 18

19 Protocol? Technical: IETF, W3C, and others Openness innovation business. Protocols need to be robust. Human: netiquette No protocol no function. A few mavericks can be handled. 19

20 Services There is no money to be made in transport. The Internet is useless without services. The services are part of the infrastructure. Will they work during crises? Natural disaster crises? Technical crises? Business crises? Political crises? Need to find the balance in providing services without hindering others from providing other services. 20

21 More soft infrastructure Maps Addresses Time tables Time itself! News 21

22 Information! Is information itself infrastructure? Access to information. Meta-information (e.g., directories) Whom are you talking to? Authentication? Expensive! Authority? 22

23 Cross dependencies Physical environment (power, air-cond, ) Address information Topological information Intermediate systems and services Time Operational skills and the the service itself (direct dependency). 23

24 Obstacles Moving away from the end-to-end model! Control shifts from end user to intermediaries. Cripples the users ability to determine authenticity and authority. Usage model also changes Web server, store and forward. Note well: store... For how long? For what purpose? Says who? BUT... makes it easier to enforce protocol. 24

25 Constraints ISP control: we re here to make your life easy. Centralized application: you only need a web browser or download our app!. Law enforcement: we re here to protect you!. And they are! Difficult. Address depletion. IPv6 designed to help, but... Stop-gap solutions aggravate current situation. Networks upon networks of deception. 25

26 Who s in control? The ISP private company? The centralized application private company? The law enforcement govt. agency Democratic values? Freedom of speech? Anonymity? 26

27 Restricted? Control means ability to restrict, censor, and infiltrate (e.g., DNS and SMTP blocking/hijacking with limited capabilities). Big sledgehammer often used instead of appropriate methods. = Man-in-the-middle attack? Restrict access to infrastructure? Hamstring on innovation. Who speaks for Joe User? There is no right way to do censorship. Even the best version of a bad idea remains a bad idea. 27

28 Where do you fit in the picture? You are the Internet navvies, the station masters, the bridge engineers! You design and operate this! 28

29 You contribute! to providing connections between the end user and the other end user. to making sure grandma's security alarm can reach the emergency centre. to making it possible for that 3-year-old to talk and wave to daddy 3,000 miles away. to making sure the expert doctors at the hospital can receive the X-ray pictures from the far away treatment centre to assist in surgery. 29

30 You contribute! to providing means to help lost refugees find their relatives. to enabling new business to thrive on new inventions. to building community trust in our infrastructure. 30

31 You're it! You are not building computer networks, you are building infrastructure! and you're part of it yourself! But bear in mind that people have very high expectations on infrastructure. You are expected to meet them or exceed them. Including during crises. Build for long term future communication, innovation, and business! Build and provide services, but don't hinder others from building other services. 31

32 THE INTERNET WILL THRIVE ONLY AS LONG AS PEOPLE CAN USE IT LIKE INFRASTRUCTURE! All photos are taken by Lars-Johan Liman, and used with permission in this presentation. Other use is restricted., v1.6