Interest in being a founding member? Join our growing list of members. Contact us at join (at) nellix.net
Proposed Connection Policy:
• Valid ASN + BGP capability required.
• One MAC per port; no LLDP, STP, CDP, DHCP, or IPv6 RA.
• Advertise only your authorized, RPKI-valid/unknown prefixes.
• No default routes, full tables, or bogons to route servers.
• IPv6 strongly encouraged; dual-stack supported.
• Traffic only between peers — no transit or L2 bridging.
• Maintain 24/7 NOC/abuse contact, keep IRR/RPKI updated.
• Ports may be disabled for instability, abuse, or security issues.
Traffic Policy
Allowed Traffic
• Unicast traffic destined for prefixes announced by Members.
• Traffic MUST be intended for exchange with specific peers.
Disallowed Traffic
• Layer-2 bridging between ports, public WiFi, or transit reselling.
• Multicast (unless specifically enabled as a service).
• Broadcast storms, ARP floods, IPv6 RA.
• DDoS reflection/amplification attempts.
• Using the IX fabric as a transit path.
3.1 Layer-2 Requirements
Members must provide:
• A compliant Ethernet interface using one of the supported port speeds (currently 1G/10G/25G).
• Frames must be 802.1Q untagged unless using optional VLAN services explicitly permitted by Nell-IX.
• MTU 1500 minimum; Jumbo (9000) recommended.
• No STP, LLDP, CDP, UDLD, or similar L2 control traffic may be sent to the IX fabric.
MAC Addressing
• Member ports must use one MAC address per port.
• Gratuitous ARP/ND storms or frequent MAC moves are not allowed.
• The IX reserves the right to disable ports exhibiting unstable MAC behavior.
The IX will announce maintenance at least:
• 72 hours in advance for planned maintenance
• As-soon-as-possible for emergency work
