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Frequently Asked Questions

General

Becoming a member

Becoming a Partner

Costs of Membership

Co-locations (housing sites)

Technical

Migration Questions

Mailing Lists

Abuse Procedures

Q: What is AMS-IX?
A: The Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) is one of the fastest growing Internet Exchanges. Learn more about it in the About AMS-IX section.


Q: What is an Internet Exchange?
A: The Internet is a worldwide network of networks. These different types of networks are connected together using the Internet protocol (IP). An Internet Exchange is a place where Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can interconnect these independent networks and exchange Internet traffic with each other. This exchanging of national and/or international IP traffic on an Internet Exchange is generally known as ’peering’.


Q: What is peering?
A: Peering is the exchange of traffic between ISPs. In order to settle the terms to which this exchange takes place ISPs use peering agreements which often do not include an exchange of money. This helps to reduce the costs of IP Traffic in a significant way. One of the largest costs facing any ISP nowadays are the upstream capacity costs of connections. Peering arrangements at an exchange reduce the need to send IP traffic through a bandwidth upstream provider. One single connection to an exchange point (such as AMS-IX) may reduce the need for multiple connections. Here at AMS-IX, members are easily able to connect up with each other and enjoy the full benefits of peering. Every member at AMS-IX is in the position to peer with any or all other connected ISP's although they are not required to. Each member might have a different peering policy, and this policy may differ depending on the ISP that is negotiating with them.


Q: Who is connected to AMS-IX?
A: At present all major Dutch ISPs and many international ISPs (especially from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and the Nordic countries) have established connections with AMS-IX. Organisations such as RIPE NCC and NL Domain Registry System, have also decided to become members of AMS-IX. A look at the List of Members page will inform you of who is actually connected to AMS-IX and what their peering policy is or a link to find out more about their policy.


Q: I lost my account details for the AMS-IX web-site: what do I do?
A: Follow the instructions on the Lost Password page. You will need to have access to the e-mail of either your registered organisational contact or the peering contact. In case this is not possible, please contact the AMS-IX Webmaster to get the account details or have the password reset. Please note that additional proof of identity may be required.


Q: What are the requirements for becoming an AMS-IX member?
A: In order to be considered for an AMS-IX membership, you must meet the following 5 requirements:
  1. You must be a recognised legal entity.

  2. You must have an ASN (Autonomous System Number).

    The Applicant must have their own ASN assigned by a Regional Internet Registry, being either; RIPE-NCC, APNIC, LACNIC or ARIN OR by a Local Internet Registry.

  3. The primary function of your business must be internet related.

  4. You must have the intention to and be willing to sign an AMS-IX Connection Agreement.

  5. You must have an agreement with your chosen Co-location.

    Before your port will be enabled at AMS-IX, you must have a contract with the co-locations of your choice! This rule always applies, even if your equipment is physically located at another location and a third party is providing you with connection services to the housing locations.


Q: How do I become a member of AMS-IX?
A: By following the instructions pointed out in the “Connect to AMS-IX” section.


Q: How do I know if I have been accepted as a member of AMS-IX?
A: Once you have been approved by the executive board, a letter will be posted to you detailing what you must do next.A membership certificate will be send to you as well.


Q: When and/or how do I receive the port details for setting up my connection(s)?
A: The AMS-IX NOC works hard to put up connections at the envisional date you have provided us with via the Enty Form. Our engineers will inform the engineers at your side by e-mail on the day you prefer to put the connection up.


Q: Ho do we join the AMS-IX Partner Program?
A: Please take a look at the AMS-IX Partner Program portal for more information about how to join the Partner Program.


Q: What are the costs of a connection to the AMS-IX switching platform?
A: All costs of connections to the physical infrastructure are listed on the Joining - Costs page on on this site.


Q: Are there any other costs involved in a connection?
A: AMS-IX does not charge for anything else except the physical connection to the switch. The costs of housing your equipment is a seperate concern, which needs to be directed towards the co-location(s) that you choose. If applicable, the costs of the leased line from your network to the chosen co-location(s) is also your responsibility.


Q: Do I get a discount if I apply for more than one connection?
A: No. AMS-IX does not give discounts for multiple connections.


Q: From which moment will I be billed for my connections?
A: Your company will be billed ten working days after you have been provided with your (new) portdetails by our NOC. You will be billed quarterly but it is also possible to be charged automatically every month.


Q: Are the co-locations part of the AMS-IX association?
A: No. Even though AMS-IX works in close partnership with the co-locations, they are still seperate entities from AMS-IX. Full details on the co-locations can be found on the Contact - Co-locations page on this site.


Q: Where can I find information on the AMS-IX co-locations?
A: Full details on the co-locations can be found on the Contact - Co-locations page on this site.


Q: (urgent) Technical queries: who will I contact: AMS-IX NOC or the Co-Location?
A: The NOC contact page shows clearly who to contact in case of technical issues.


Q: What is the procedure for changing equipment? (changing MAC address)
A: At the AMS-IX switches port security is used to protect its infrastructure against unwanted packets and network loops. It prevents MAC addresses other than the locked MAC address from sending packets onto the AMS-IX platform. Previously, a port was shut for 10 minutes per violation. This has changed. Ingress (from the switch's point of view) traffic with a non-allowed source MAC address will be dropped. When carrying out maintenance that results in a change of MAC address (such as swapping equipment), a new MAC address must be learned or set for the switch port, and the old MAC address must be removed. The AMS-IX NOC will allow extra MAC addresses at the port until the maintenance has been completed. This should be done before starting the maintenance to prevent outages for the customer. The procedure for this is:
  1. Contact the AMS-IX NOC before commencing with the maintenance, either by e-mail (during office hours) or phone (during office hours or outside office hours for emergency maintenance) for allowing or setting an extra MAC address.
  2. Contact the AMS-IX NOC after finishing the maintenance to remove the old MAC address.
Important We urgently request that factory-default MAC addresses are used. AMS-IX staff would like to be able to register changes and see the OUIs in order to correlate new issues to certain changes or certain router vendors.


Q: We are IPv6 ready: How do we announce this to AMS-IX?
A: Please send an e-mail to the AMS-IX NOC, whenever you are IPv6 ready. Please include the port (if you have more than one), your AS number and the IPv6 address(es) you plan on using.

We can also register reverse DNS (PTR) mappings for the IPv6 addresses on the peering LAN. Just include the required mappings in your mail, or use the Change PTR RR form in the member's section.


Q: Who will arange cable management?
A: The party you have chosen, an AMS-IX Partner, co-location(s) or Layer2 Provider, will arrange cabling.


Q: What is Link Aggregation?
A: Also known as "trunking" (Foundry), "EtherChannel" (Cisco), or the official IEEE term "LACP / 802.3ad". Link aggregation bundles multiple parallel links between a pair of devices forming a single high-performance channel. See also the Link Aggregation page in the technical section.

At AMS-IX, link aggregation is available for gigabit connections at all locations.


Q: Can I upgrade my current connection(s) at AMS-IX?
A: Yes. Members can upgrade their connection(s) or apply for an additional connection at any time. Of course the costs will also differ depending on the upgrade required. See costs of connection. There are no additional costs applicable for the upgrade(s) itself.
AMS-IX allows ten days transition time in order to migrate port traffic from the old connection to the new demanded connection.


Q: Which of the contacts that I have given on the AMS-IX Entry Form will appear on the mailing lists?
A: AMS-IX keeps two (main) member mailing lists:
  1. org-l@ams-ix.net - The Org. (organisation) list includes the ACP and the CCP which you initially listed on the AMS-IX Entry Form.

  2. tech-l@ams-ix.net - The Tech. (technical) list includes the TCP that you initially included on the AMS-IX Entry form.

See also the AMS-IX Mailing Lists page in the Members' section.


Q: How can I take a person off or add a person to one of the AMS-IX mailing lists?
A: You can at any time contact the AMS-IX Office and request a change to any of the AMS-IX mailing lists.

Note that you can have more than one person on any of these lists.

Changing subscription options of individual (already subscribed) e-mail addresses can be done through the Mailman interface. See the AMS-IX Mailing Lists page in the Members' section for more details.


Q: I received spam/UCE from you; what now?
A: Before sending a complaint, please take note of the following:
  1. The AMS-IX systems are part of the 91.200.16.0/22 network. If no system from that subnet appears in the message's Received headers, it did not originate from our systems.

  2. AMS-IX B.V. itself does not knowingly send out unsollicited advertising.

  3. If systems from the abovementioned network (91.200.16.0/22) do show up in the Received headers, there are two possibilities:

    • The header is faked; we can easily check this by checking our mail logs.
    • We have been hacked or used as a relay; in that case, we will take immediate steps to fix the problem.

If you think the above applies to the spam you received, please forward the complete spam message, including all headers to: abuse@ams-ix.net.

Important Remember to forward the full spam message, not just Outlook's idea of a message!


Q: I received spam/UCE from your customer!
A:
  1. Please keep the following in mind:

    • AMS-IX is a Layer-2 Internet Exchange.
    • AMS-IX is not a transit IP provider.
    • AMS-IX is not an ISP.
    • AMS-IX has 297 customers (members), most of which are ISPs.
    • AMS-IX provides the infrastructure that enables its customers (members) to exchange IP traffic.

  2. Given the above, it is not surprising if a traceroute to the source of a spam message or a website advertised in that spam crosses the AMS-IX peering LAN (195.69.144.0/23).

  3. AMS-IX cannot police the IP traffic that ISPs exchange over the peering LAN. What two ISPs accept and don't accept from each other is their business. If a traceroute to a spam source crosses from provider A to provider B over the AMS-IX peering LAN, your best chances are to contact provider A and/or B.

    See the diagram below. Given the likely multiple paths between you and a typical spammer, the largest chance of success is to cut off the spammer at his ISP.

    Path from you to spammer
    Path from you to the spammer


Q: You are scanning my ports, stop that!
A: We're not, honestly. Before complaining about a port scan, please take note of the following:
  1. The AMS-IX B.V. systems are part of the 91.200.16.0/22 network. If the source IP address of a port scan is not from that subnet, then it did not originate from our systems.
  2. Systems in the 195.69.144.0/23 network range are routers and are neither owned nor managed by AMS-IX.
  3. One or two packets do not make a port scan or hack attempt yet.

  4. Make sure this really is a port scan/hack attempt. Many "personal firewall" products are misconfigured and erroneously block bonafide packets. Remember, if your firewall complains, it may just be misconfigured.

  5. If your firewall is complaining about ICMP packets:
    • Do not complain about “ICMP type 3” packets.

      These packets are sent to your system because you are trying to contact another system that is unreachable for some reason. Change your firewall setup to allow these packets. If you are convinced that you didn't initiate a connection to the other (unreachable) system, check your firewall. Some firewalls try to gather information from the RIPE database using an IP address that is unreachable, and hence they receive the (valid) ICMP error code. Otherwise, update your virus checker and run a scan -- you may be harbouring a virus.

    • Make sure you have a basic understanding of what ICMP is before complaining about it. The following links may be helpful:
      tech.oneeyedcrow.net/icmp-filtering.html support.microsoft.com/?id=170292 www.iana.org/assignments/icmp-parameters

If you still think you are being attacked, send a message to abuse@ams-ix.net containing at the very least the following information about the suspicious packets:

  • Source IP address.
  • Destination IP address.
  • Protocol (TCP, UDP, ICMP).
  • Relevant port numbers/type information.
  • Timestamps.

If your firewall is capable of creating plain text log files, please attach the log file (or relevant parts thereof) to your mail.

Important Remember to include the above items in your message!
We cannot do anything without this information.


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