This is Tomoki Yoshikawa. Two of our members, Yoshikawa and Goto, participated in PhNOG 2025+, which took place in Manila, Philippines on July 8-9, 2025. We would like to report on their experience here. Additionally, on the preceding day of PhNOG on July 7, we conducted maintenance at POP201, our connectivity hub in the Philippines.
POP201 Maintenance Report
POP201 is our organization’s first overseas base, established in July of last year in Manila. At POP201, we maintain IX connectivity through BBIX Manila. As this is an overseas location and difficult to visit frequently, we typically conduct maintenance about once or twice a year in conjunction with events like PhNOG.
Since dedicated lines are extremely expensive, POP201 connects to the internet via Direct Internet Access (DIA). Using DIA, we establish connections to two of our core locations in Tokyo and create virtual Layer 2 tunnels between them, previously using NEC IX series routers for this purpose. However, due to their high cost, we acquire NEC IX equipment from the used market, which results in inconsistent availability. Furthermore, automated configuration is challenging, and the device’s performance with short packets is not particularly strong - when handling large volumes of short packets, the CPU load can spike significantly. These technical limitations have led our organization to explore using FreeBSD, which incorporates EtherIP in its kernel, on general-purpose servers as a potential solution. We have already implemented this in several domestic locations and confirmed it delivers the expected performance. We plan to continue deployment and will publish detailed information once we have accumulated sufficient operational experience. During this maintenance visit, we replaced the NEC IX equipment at POP201 with a smaller FreeBSD-based PC. The machine used was a compact PC equipped with an Intel N150 processor, 8GB RAM, and four 1Gbps Ethernet ports, available for under ¥20,000 with stable availability. Note: When operating, the thermal sink on the top of the case becomes extremely hot, so we recommend avoiding covering the top of the unit.
Participation in PhNOG 2025+
PhNOG 2025+ was held from July 7-11, with July 7 being a Self-Arranged Meeting Day and July 8 as a Conference Day, featuring sessions primarily by local businesses and Peering Personal events. July 9 was dedicated as a Peering Day with sessions on peering and internet technology, followed by Workshops on July 10-11 covering fundamental internet technology topics. For detailed schedule information, please refer to https://www.facebook.com/groups/632112196877805/.
Our organization participated on July 8-9, presenting at Peering Personal and enjoying interactions with local businesses. One of the primary objectives behind establishing POP201 was not only to deepen technical understanding of overseas backbone networks but also to engage with international operators, learn about their countries’ internet infrastructure, and share our organization’s expertise to further develop the global internet community. Therefore, we were deeply honored to announce our Philippine POP establishment at PhNOG and have the opportunity to interact with local professionals. Since two of our members also participated last year, some operators already knew about our organization, demonstrating that our active participation in international events is gradually bearing fruit.
At the Peering Day sessions, top-level experts from international organizations like APNIC and RIPE were invited, and it was particularly notable to see young engineers demonstrating such eagerness to learn about internet technologies. While I couldn’t participate myself, the combined Workshop and operational technology training program offered many valuable learning opportunities that I believe are worth emulating.
On the evenings of the 8th and 9th, a social gathering was held, allowing participants to engage with many local business owners while enjoying regional cuisine. In addition to IX and carrier representatives, we also had opportunities to meet organizations like ours that provide internet security technology services on a non-profit basis, making for very meaningful conversations. We were able to hear many unique insights about the country, including details about national fiber network deployment initiatives and the growing momentum as multiple IXes have entered the Philippines.
Next year’s PhNOG 2026+ will be held in Cebu Island. We’re looking forward to meeting many of you again next year.
