I have noticed that most InfoSec folks, even those coming from a network engineering background, tend to have a limited understanding of how the modern Internet that we all depend up actually works. This talk will be a primer on how today's Internet is put together verses in the past, and how it manages to keep on working and scaling, thus far. This presentation won't make anyone an instant expert, but it will provide you with an overview of Internet history, technical and security challenges, operational best practices, and business issues that you won't find in any other single presentation. Topics will include a brief Internet history, definitions of Internet Service Provider Tiers, the difference between IP peering and IP transit, how Internet traffic distribution and costs have changed over time, the rise of Internet Exchange Points and Content Distribution Networks around the world, and post IPv4 exhaustion issues. Also discussed will be how technologies and techniques such as geo-targeting, Anycast DNS, and remote triggered black-holes help keep the Internet functioning during DDoS attacks, including the ones delivered via the dreaded fiber seeking backhoe.

Troutman is an Internet "Old Timer" & Engineer, having first been online via a ???paper TTY with a 300 bps acoustic coupler modem in 1982. He has been an active user of the Internet & UNIX since 1987, and has been tasked with building and running Internet infrastructure off and on since the early 90s. He has held a wide variety of roles in Internet operations, engineering, and management at various regional ISPs, CLECs, ILECs, cable TV companies, and web hosts. He is a Director of the non-profit Northern New England Neutral Internet Exchange (NNENIX.NET) in Portland, Maine but his day job is roaming the countryside as a self-employed infrastructure consultant, based out of the great state of Maine.

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