Kentik Market Intelligence

This article discusses the Kentik Market Intelligence feature of the Kentik portal.

About KMI

Kentik Market Intelligence (KMI) is a Service Provider workflow that uses the global routing table to classify the peering and transit relationships between Autonomous Systems (ASes) and to identify the providers, peers, and customers for any AS in any geography. KMI estimates the volume of IP space transited by ASes in different geographies and produces rankings based on that volume, thereby enabling users to compare ASes in various markets.

KMI also features Top Insights, which are automatic real-time notices about networks and markets. KMI insights are currently presented only within KMI rather than being part of the overall Kentik Insights engine. KMI insights identify interesting or anomalous events or trends that can deepen your understanding of the networks involved and the markets in which they operate.

KMI requires no setup or configuration to use, does not use flow data or synthetic test data, and covers ASes that both are and are not Kentik customers. Kentik draws public Routing Information Base (RIB) data feeds from the University of Oregon RouteViews project, computes scores from this information (see KMI Ranking Methodology), and publishes the results once daily on the Kentik Market Intelligence page (see KMI Page) as a set of tables in which ASes are ranked based on their score. A multi-tabbed details page for each AS (see AS Details Page) enables deeper drill-down into specific information for individual networks, including charts and tables in areas such as ranking, markets, customers, providers, and peers.

KMI Use Cases

KMI is oriented toward service providers that sell connectivity (a.k.a. Transit Providers), where it can be a valuable tool for a number of roles:

• Product Managers can use it to assess competition in existing and new markets.

• Marketing departments at leading providers can use it to validate their position in various markets.

• Sales and Product executives can use it to set goals in markets defined by customer type or by territory.

• Sales can use it to identify single-homed ASes to prospect and to determine existing providers for a given prospect.

KMI is also useful to networks such as content providers and large broadband providers, particularly for Peering Managers, who need to know all providers used by a given network:

• KMI can help identify networks with which it would be advantageous to peer.

• KMI can help determine ways to influence inbound path for a specific source network by using community routing to see them from another provider.

KMI Ranking Type

Kentik Market Intelligence ranks ASes in order of three main types of Kentik-computed KMI rankings (see KMI Ranking Methodology). The rankings displayed on the KMI Page or an AS Details Page take into account the current KMI Filter Bar settings on that page. The following types of rankings are shown:

• Customer Base: Ranked by the size of the overall customer base, estimated by determining how much IP address space a given AS transits relative to other ASes. Rankings are also available by category (see Customer Base Type).

• Customer Growth: Ranked by the change in overall customer base (gain/loss of prefixes) over the last 28 days.

• Peering: Ranked by the amount of IP address space sent to the AS over a settlement-free peering session.

On AS Details pages, the various ranking types are found on the following tabs:

• Overview: Customer Base (including categories).

• Rankings: Customer Base (including categories).

• Markets: Customer Base (including categories), Customer Growth, Peering.  

KMI Filter Bar

The filter bar is a set of controls that appears near the top of the tabs in the KMI module (on the KMI Page or on an individual AS Details Page). The controls in the bar allow you to define the scope of the information presented on the tab.

Depending on the tab (see Filter Controls by Tab), the filter bar may include the following individual controls:

• IP Address Family: A dropdown from which you can choose the IP version (v4 or v6) used for the evaluation of IP address space.

  Note: KMI scores are not directly comparable between IP versions. Kentik currently has no plans to enable an IP version setting of All.

• Geo Market: A dropdown from which you can choose the geographical scope of the KMI analysis presented on this page.

  Note: Kentik uses GeoIP to determine the origination country for the prefixes used to compute the ranking. The geomarket control allows you to restrict the study to any given continent/region/country.

• Ranking Type: A dropdown from which you can select a Rankings type (see KMI Ranking Type) by which to narrow the scope of the rankings in the tab's tables and charts. When narrowing by customers, the control allows you to choose a specific Customer Base Type.

• Comparison ASN: A dropdown from which you can select one of your organization’s ASNs (as entered in your Network Classification settings) to compare with the specified AS.

  Note: This control is only available on AS Details pages (see Filter Controls by Tab).

The results on each tab are filtered based on the above settings.

Note: Filter bar settings are retained from page to page, including from the landing page to a details page (and vice versa) as well as from one details page to another.

Customer Base Type

On the KMI landing page, and on several tabs of the AS Details pages, customer base rankings may be broken down further by category, which is chosen from the dropdown Ranking Type control in the KMI Filter Bar. In addition to all customers, the following categories are available:

• Retail: Networks that provide services (e.g., originate content) or whose end-users are consumers of services (e.g., ISPs or "eyeball" networks).

• Wholesale: Networks that connect retail networks to backbone networks.

• Backbone: Networks that carry high volumes of traffic between wholesale networks.

  

Filter Controls by Tab

The table below shows how the filter bar controls vary depending on the tab.

KMI Page

The Kentik Market Intelligence page includes the following main settings, controls, and information:

• Breadcrumbs (on subnav): Text indicating your current location on the Kentik portal.

• Share (on subnav): A button linking you to the Share dialog to share the current view (see Sharing via the Share Dialog(opens in new tab)).

• Actions (on subnav): A button that allows you to export and manage subscriptions to KMI exports (see KMI Actions Menu and KMI Export Types).

• Insights (on subnav): A button that toggles visibility of the right-side Top Insights drawer (see Top Insights) which contains market and ranking insights based on your Top Insights Configuration.

• Top insights: A pane, displayed in a drawer, that contains KMI insights (see Top Insights).

  Note: The drawer is open by default; to close it, click the Insights button.

• Favorite(on subnav): A icon indicates whether this item has been added as a favorite (see Portal Search Tabs(opens in new tab)). A solid yellow star indicates this page is a favorite, while an outline indicates it is not.

• Search by: A field into which you can enter an ASN or AS name to return a dropdown list of matching ASes. Click an AS in the resulting list to go to the AS Details Page for that AS.

• Configuration: A button that opens the Market Intelligence Configuration dialog, enabling you to select ASNs you own and operate (see Optional KMI Configuration).

• Filter Bar: A set of controls across the top of the chart that enable you to define the scope of the information presented on the page (see KMI Filter Bar).

• Ranking Over Time: A pane containing a chart and list that show, based on the current Filter Bar settings, the rankings of ASes in the category corresponding to the selected tab (see Ranking Over Time Pane).

• Latest Rankings: A pane containing a table listing top providers and a filter control that lets you narrow, by ranking, the range of providers that are shown (see Latest Rankings Pane).

KMI Actions Menu

This menu opens by clicking with the Actions button at the top right of the Kentik Market Intelligence page (in the subnav). It includes:

• Export: Opens a submenu from which you can choose to export one of two types of export in CSV format. (see KMI Export Types).
  

• Subscribe: Opens the Subscription Dialog, which enables you to subscribe to a KMI export, either by choosing an existing subscription or specifying a new one. The CSV export is then emailed to the specified address at the scheduled interval. Clicking Manage Subscriptions directs you to the Subscription page (see Subscription Tab UI).

• Unsubscribe (appears only when you have an active subscription): Opens the Unsubscribe dialog to remove an  subscription. Select the subscription to unsubscribe from the dropdown and click Unsubscribe.

KMI Export Types

You can export Kentik Market Intelligence (KMI) options are accessible from the KMI Actions Menu and export types for the KMI landing page include the following:

• Latest Rankings (.csv): Opens the Market Intelligence CSV Export dialog, which enables you to configure which rankings include in the export. The export will list ranked and ordered ASNs with their KMI score. You can then measure the gaps between each value.

• Top Global Insights (.csv): Automatically generates a sorted list of global insights ordered by magnitude (importance), on scale of 1 to 5. A notification will appear at the top of your screen when the export is complete.

Market Intelligence CSV Export dialog

The Market Intelligence CSV Export dialog enables you to configure export options for certain market intelligence data. This dialog varies depending on which view you access. You can access this dialog through the KMI page or through the AS Details page.

From the KMI page, this view appears when you generate a Latest Rankings export (see Generate a Latest Rankings Export).

Generate a Latest Rankings Export

To generate a Latest Rankings Export from the KMI page:

1. Click Actions » Export » Latest Rankings.

2. In the Market Intelligence CSV Export dialog, enter the following values:

   • Start Rank: The highest rank to include in the exported data.

   • End Rank: The lowest rank to include in the exported data.

3. Click Export to generate the report.

Ranking Over Time Pane

The Ranking Over Time pane shows a chart and a list, both of which are filtered based on the settings of the KMI Filter Bar:

• Ranking chart: A time-series chart showing the ranking of providers for each month of the last year.

• Ranking list: The current ranking (post-filter) of providers (see Ranking Over Time List).

  

The providers that are ranked in the chart and list depend on which mode is selected with the controls at the top right (above the list):

• Top 10 Providers (default): The list and chart show the current top-10 of the post-filter providers.

• Select Provider: The list and chart show five providers on either side (in terms of ranking) of the provider selected with the See +/-5 around dropdown. For example, if the ranking of the selected provider is 100, the other displayed providers will be those with rankings from 95 to 99 and 101 to 105. If no provider is selected, the displayed providers will be the current top-10 of the post-filter providers.

When you hover over a given location in the chart, a popup appears that shows what the ranking was for the month at that point in the time range.

Note: For information on how rankings are derived, see KMI Ranking Methodology.

Ranking Over Time List

Each row of the Ranking Over Time list includes the following elements (left to right):

• Color key: The color that represents this provider in the Ranking Over Time chart.

• Provider logo: The provider’s logo (if included).

• Name: The name of the provider’s owner/operator.

• ASN: A lozenge displaying the provider’s ASN, that when clicked, displays an KMI ASN Links Popup.

KMI ASN Links Popup

The KMI ASN Links popup appears when when you click the ASN lozenge in the Ranking Over Time List. It includes the following information and links (which open in the same tab):

• Registration Country: The country in which the ASN is registered.

• Kentik Market Intelligence: Opens the AS Details Page for that ASN.

• PeeringDB record: Opens the PeeringDB Info Tab of the Core Details page for this AS.

• ASN Traffic View: Opens the Traffic Tab of th Core Details page for this AS.

• View Traffic Costs: Opens the Traffic Costs Details Page for that AS.

  Note: Traffic cost access is managed through RBAC and may be restricted.

Clicking on any row of the Ranking Over Time list directs you to the AS Details Page for that provider.

Latest Rankings Pane

The Latest Rankings pane of the Kentik Market Intelligence page is made up of the Latest Rankings table and its associated range filter, which are covered in the topics below.

Latest Rankings Table

The Latest Rankings table shows the current ranking of providers, filtered based on the settings of the KMI Filter Bar. Click the row for any provider to go to that provider’s AS Details Page in KMI. The table includes the following columns (left to right):

• Ranking:

  • Rank: The ranking currently assigned to each AS, taking into account the page's current IP Address Family, Geo Market, and Ranking Type settings.

  • Change: The change in rank since the previous ranking (currently daily).

• Provider:

  • Logo: The provider’s logo.

  • Name: The name of the provider's owner/operator.

  • ASN: A lozenge giving the provider’s ASN. Click the lozenge to open a popup that includes the AS’s country of registration and links to AS-related destinations in Kentik (see ASN in Ranking Over Time List).

• % of top score:

  • Percentage: This provider's score as a percentage of the score of the top-ranked provider listed in the table.

  • Bar chart: A horizontal bar chart illustrating this provider's score percentage.

Note: For information on how rankings are derived, see KMI Ranking Methodology.

Latest Rankings Range Filter

The range filter is a blue bar that appears above the Latest Rankings table. A series of dots is displayed under the bar, with top-ranked providers represented as individual dots and the remaining providers, whose scores are too close to be represented individually, represented with one large dot. The position of each dot from left to right is proportional to the corresponding provider's % of top score as shown in the table. Hovering over a dot opens a popup that shows you the provider(s) and its percentage of the top score.

The range control has two handles, which appear by default at the far left and right ends of the bar. Dragging these handles has the following effect on which providers are listed in the table:

• Sliding the left handle to the right trims the highest-ranked providers from the top of the table.

• Sliding the right handle to the left trims the lowest-ranked providers from the bottom of the table.

Optional KMI Configuration

While you can run KMI out-of-the-box, additional value can be obtained by configuring your own ASNs in KMI to compare yourself to any network you may be investigating.

Clicking on the Configuration button launches the Market Intelligence Configuration dialog. This dialog allows you to optionally configure ASNs you own and operate. The KMI workflow then shows the comparative data for these ASNs against any others in that workflow.

Under My ASNs, you'll see a list of the ASNs that you have defined in Settings » Network Classification as being part of your network. Select all of these ASNs that you want KMI to consider as part of your network. The ASNs will be indicated as yours in tables and will be included in comparisons involving your network as a filter (see Filter Controls by Tab).

Notes:

• You must have an Administrator or Super Administrator User Level to configure these settings.

• To change the ASNs that are available to designate as part of your network, change your Network Classification settings

AS Details Page

Every Autonomous System (AS) is detailed in KMI on a multi-tabbed page that enables deeper drill-down into specific information for individual networks.

The details page for each AS includes the following UI elements:

• Breadcrumbs (on subnav): Text indicating your current location on the Kentik portal. The Autonomous System Number (ASN) of the AS is displayed. Clicking Kentik Market Intelligence brings you to the KMI landing page.

• Share (on subnav): A button linking you to the Share dialog to share the current view (see Sharing via the Share Dialog(opens in new tab)).

• Actions (on subnav): A button that allows you to export and manage subscriptions to KMI exports (see KMI Actions Menu and AS Details Export Types).

• AS title bar: The logo, name, country, and ASN of this AS.

• View in Network Explorer: A button that takes you to the Traffic tab of this AS’s Details page in Network Explorer (see Traffic Tab).

• View PeeringDB Record: A button that takes you to the PeeringDB tab of this AS’s Network Explorer Details page (see PeeringDB Info Tab).

• Search by: A field into which you can enter an ASN or AS name to return a dropdown list of matching ASes. You can click an AS in the resulting list to go to the KMI Details page for that AS.

• Tabs: A set of tabs presenting different types of information about the AS (Overview, Rankings, Markets, Customers & Providers, and Peers). The charts and tables on each tab are covered in the topics below.

• Filter bar: A filter bar at the top of each tab enables you to define the scope of the information presented on the tab (see KMI Filter Bar). To see which controls are included on which tab, see Filter Controls by Tab.

  Note: Filter bar settings are retained from page to page, including from the landing page to a Details page (and vice versa) as well as from one Details page to another.

AS Details Export Types

AS details export types include:

• Top ASN Insights: An export focused on tracking BGP events and connectivity changes for a single network, identified by its ASN.

• Customers & Providers: Displays the upstream providers and downstream customers for a selected AS, and highlights which of those are shared with your own network.

• Peers: Displays the peering relationships for a specific AS.

When you click Customers & Providers, the Market Intelligence CSV Export dialog appears for further configuration. When you click Top ASN Insights or Peers, the report automatically generates. All exports are downloaded in CSV format.

Generate a Customers & Providers Export

You can generate a Customers & Providers Export through the AS Details page by configuring the Market Intelligence CSV Export dialog for that view.

1. From the AS Details Page, click Actions » Export » Customers & Providers.

2. (Optional) Select one or more of the following values.

   Value	Description
   Include Providers	If checked, providers data is included in the export; otherwise only customers data is included.
   Exclude Mutual Customers	Exclude from the data from any customers that are common to the AS and your own network.
   Only Single-Homed Customers	Include in the data only the AS's single-homed customers. Single-homed customers are those with a single upstream provider. In practice, this is a good way to pitch your own network as an additional source of routing diversity.

3. Click Export to generate the report.

AS Overview Details

The Overview tab of the AS Details page provides a high-level look (visualized in charts) at metrics for this AS, which are each compared (when presented as a bar graph) with the same metric for your own network. The KMI Filter Bar includes scope controls for IP Address Family, Geo Market, and Ranking Type, and Comparison ASN (see Filter Controls by Tab). Unless noted below, each chart will update when you make changes to the filter controls.

The following panes and charts are included on this tab:

• Footprint: Displays bar charts comparing the geographical distribution of traffic on this AS with that of your own network:

  • Regions: The number of regions from/to which the AS transits traffic.

    Note: This chart is not affected by the Geo Market or Ranking Type filter settings.

    • Countries: The number of countries (identified via GeoIP data for the prefix being transited) from which the AS transits traffic.

• Providers: Displays the Provider Count by Month line chart, which shows the AS’s upstream provider count for the last 12 months.

  Notes:

  • If there are no upstream providers (e.g., the AS is part of the Transit Free Zone), the chart is not displayed.

  • The provider count on the graph’s Y axis may be truncated and as such, may not start at zero.

  • This chart is not affected by the Ranking Type filter setting.

• Customers: Displays charts showing current and historical data about the AS’s customers (see Overview Customers Charts).

• Prefixes/IPs: This section shows the originated and transited prefixes and IPs for the AS (see Overview Prefixes Charts).

• Top Insights: A pane that lists insights related to this AS (see Top Insights). The configuration of the pane when you arrive at the AS Details page will be the same as it was on the KMI landing page. If you change the configuration (see Top Insights Configuration), the updated configuration remains when you return to the KMI page.

Overview Customers Charts

The Customers pane of the Overview tab includes the following charts:

• Customers: The number of ASes identified as customers of this AS compared with your own network.

• Single-Homed Customers: The number of ASes identified as single-homed customers of this AS (see Single Homed ASes) compared with your own network.

• Customer Count by Month: A stacked area chart that shows both single-homed and multi-home customer counts for the AS over the last 12 months (hover over any point of the graph to see exact values and to see which points are single or multi-home).

  Note: The customer count on the graph’s Y axis may be truncated and as such, may not start at zero.

• Customer Base Split: A breakdown of the AS's customers by customer type (retail, wholesale, or backbone).

  Note: This chart is not affected by the Ranking Type filter setting.

Overview Prefixes Charts

The Prefixes/IP pane of the Overview tab includes the following charts:

• Transited Prefixes: A bar chart comparing, for this AS and your own network, the number of unique prefixes received from another network and passed to a downstream network.

• Transited IPs: A bar chart comparing, for this AS and your own network, the number of unique IPs received from another network and passed to a downstream network.

• Originated Prefixes: A bar chart comparing, for this AS and your own network, the number of unique prefixes originated (owned and announced).

• Originated IPs: A bar chart comparing, for this AS and your own network, the number of unique IPs originated (owned and announced) by this AS.

• Transited Prefix Distribution: A histogram that breaks down the distribution of the transited prefixes for the current month that are shown in the Transited Prefixes graph (above). The darker the color on the histogram, the more prefixes are being represented (hover over the bottom number to see the exact number for that prefix).

• Originated Prefix Distribution: A histogram that breaks down the distribution of the originated prefixes for the current month that are shown in the Originated Prefixes graph (above). The darker the color on the histogram, the more prefixes are being represented (hover over the bottom number to see the exact number for that prefix).

Note: Origination data (Originated Prefixes, Originated IPs, and Originated Prefix Distribution visualizations) will not appear when the KMI Ranking Type is Customer Base: Wholesale or Customer Base: Backbone.

Single Homed ASes

An AS is single-homed — or "critically dependent" — when it relies on a single upstream provider for internet connectivity. Because this sole provider represents a single point of failure, any disruption completely isolates the single-homed network from the internet.

Because these networks depend exclusively on a single transit provider, they are prime targets for KMI’s prospecting tools. Sales and account teams can use KMI to identify competitors' single-homed customers and pitch their own network as a secondary connection to establish vital routing diversity.

AS Rankings Details

The Rankings tab of the AS Details page provides a high-level look (visualized in charts and tables) at the customer and peering ranking for the selected AS. The KMI Filter Bar includes scope controls for IP Address Family, Geo Market, Ranking Type, and Comparison ASN (see Filter Controls by Tab).

Rankings Details Charts

Each chart on the Rankings tab measures the selected ranking (Customer Base or Peering) on the graph’s Y axis, which may be truncated and as such, may not start at zero. The Y axis also starts with lower values at the top of the chart increasing as it moves down to meet the X axis. The following charts are included on this tab:

• Customer Base Ranking by Month: A line graph that shows the AS’s Customer Base Ranking for the last 12 months (see KMI Ranking Type). Hover over any point of the graph to see exact values.

• Peering Ranking by Month: A line graph that shows the AS’s Peering Ranking for the last 12 months (see KMI Ranking Type). Hover over any point of the graph to see exact values.

Rankings Details Tables

The tables of the Rankings tab (Customer Base, Peering, and Customer Growth) each include the highest-ranked AS in the category (labelled as Top), the AS whose details page you’re viewing, the five ASes immediately above and below the selected AS (when possible), and your own ASes (labelled as My Network). If neither the selected AS nor your own AS is ranked, the top 10 ASes for that table will display and both your AS and the featured AS will display at the bottom of the table (labelled as No Ranking). Click any AS in a table to switch to the Rankings tab for that AS.

The following tables are included on this tab:

• Customer Base: This table shows where this AS (outlined in blue) falls in the overall rankings for Customer Base (see KMI Ranking Type).

• Peering: This table shows where this AS (outlined in blue) falls in the overall rankings for Peering (see KMI Ranking Type).

• Customer Growth: This table shows where this AS (outlined in blue) falls in the overall rankings for Customer Growth (see KMI Ranking Type).

AS Markets Details

The Markets tab of the AS Details page shows the strength of this AS by geographical market, based on a count of IP space in each market. This geo markets breakdown is represented with the following UI elements:

• Continents gauge: A horizontal bar chart showing this AS's share of customer IP space in each continent.

• Heatmap: A world map in which the color applied to each country indicates the IP space announced to this AS as a percent of the total IP space announced to all ASes operating in that country.

• Countries list: A list of the countries, grouped by region, in which this AS has customer networks, with a count of the customers in each country.

AS Customers & Providers

The Customers & Providers tab of the AS Details page identifies the providers upstream of the AS and the customers downstream and shows you which of those are common to your network. The tab includes the following charts and tables:

• Providers chart: A bar chart comparing this AS with your own network in terms of the number of upstream providers.

• Customers chart: A bar chart comparing this AS with your own network in terms of the number of downstream customers.

• Providers list: A table listing the upstream providers to this AS (see Providers List).

• Customers list: A table listing the downstream customers of this AS (see Customers List).

Providers List

The Providers list is a table listing the upstream providers to this AS. The list includes the following elements:

• Number: An indicator, displayed to the right of the heading, of the number of providers listed, which is the total number of providers unless the list is filtered with the following controls.

• Mutual selector: A dropdown with which you choose which providers the list includes:

  • All Including: All providers to this AS.

  • Only: Only providers in common to this AS and your network.

  • Exclude: Only providers not in common.

• Filter field: Filters the list to providers whose name or ASN includes the entered text.

Note: If the AS is part of the Transit Free Zone, the Providers list is replaced by a notification that the AS has no upstream providers.

Customers List

The Customers list is a table listing the downstream customers of this AS. The list includes the following elements:

• Number: An indicator, displayed to the right of the heading, of the number of customers listed, which is the total number of customers unless the list is filtered with the below controls.

• Mutual selector: A dropdown with which you choose which providers the list includes:

  • All Including: All customers of this AS.

  • Only: Only customers in common to this AS and your network.

  • Exclude: Only customers not in common.

• Single Homed selector: A dropdown with which you choose which providers the list includes:

  • All Including: All customers of this AS.

  • Only: Only customers that are single-homed.

  • Exclude: Only customers that are not single-homed.

• Filter field: Filters the list to customers whose name or ASN includes the entered text.

Providers and Customers Rows

Each row of both the Providers list and the Customers list includes the following information:

• Ranking: The ranking of the AS among the total listed providers or customers. If you filter either list using a selector (Mutual or Single Homed), the filtered ASes will display their original ranking as it was displayed in the full list of ASes.

• Name: The name of the AS.

• ASN: A lozenge giving the AS number of the provider or customer. Click the lozenge to open a popup that includes the AS’s country of registration and links to related destinations in Kentik (see ASN in Ranking Over Time List).

• Mutual or Single Homed: A lozenge that's displayed to the left of the % of top score bar chart when the AS has a mutual or single-homed provider or customer.

• % of top score: A horizontal bar chart illustrating the percentage of the top score (in blue) for the provider or customer. Hover over the bar to see an exact percentage.

AS Peers Details

The Peers tab of the AS Details page shows a chart comparing the AS's peers with your own, and a Selected Peers list. Scope controls are provided for IP Version, Geo Market, and Comparison ASN (see KMI Filter Bar). The tab includes the following charts and tables:

• Total Peers: A chart comparing the AS's total count of peers with your own organization’s peers. Use the Comparison ASN control (see KMI Filter Bar) to change which of your organization’s AS’s is compared.

• Selected Peers: A table listing the ASes with which this AS peers. The list includes the following controls and information:

  • Filter field: Filters the list to peers whose name or ASN includes the entered text.

  • Name: The name of the AS.

  • ASN: A lozenge giving the AS number of the provider. Click the lozenge to open a popup that includes the AS’s country of registration and links to related destinations in Kentik (see ASN in Ranking Over Time List).

  • Prefixes: The number of unique prefixes announced.

    Note: Click any row of the table to go to the Peers tab on the selected AS’s KMI details page.

Top Insights

KMI insights are presented in the Top Insights pane of the main KMI page, which appears in two locations within the KMI module:

KMI Insights are automatic real-time notices about networks and markets. These insights are currently presented only within KMI rather than being part of the overall Kentik Insights engine. KMI insights identify interesting or anomalous events or trends that can deepen your understanding of the networks involved and the markets in which they operate.

• Kentik Market Intelligence page: The pane appears in a drawer on the landing page whose visibility is toggled via the Insights button on the subnav (see KMI Page UI).

• AS Details page: The pane appears at the right of the Overview tab of the AS Details page (see AS Overview Details). In this setting it contains only insights that pertain to the AS detailed on the page.

  Notes:

  • The configuration of the pane when you arrive at the AS Details page will be the same as it was on the KMI landing page. If you change the configuration (see Top Insights Configuration), the updated configuration remains when you return to the KMI page.

  • In addition to seeing KMI insights in the KMI module, you can also add the Top Insights pane as a visualization on your Observation Deck.

Top Insights UI

The Top Insights pane includes the following main parts:

• Geo Market indicator (shown only when Use Geo Market Filter is selected in the configuration): In parentheses to the right of the title, this indicator tells you that the list is filtered to show only insights related to the market set with the page's Geo Market dropdown (see KMI Filter Bar).

• Options menu (kebab): A dropdown from which you can select the following options:

  • Configure: Opens the Configure Insights pane, replacing the Top Insights pane (see Top Insights Configuration).

  • Add to Observation Deck: Adds a KMI Insights Widgets pane as a visualization in your Observation Deck.

• Top Insights list: A list of insights, each of which is presented in an Insights Card.

Insights Card

The information for each insight is presented in a card that includes the following elements:

• Magnitude: A five-segment indicator in which the number of segments (starting from the left) colored blue indicates the importance of the insight from least important (1) to most (5). Importance is most often correlated with a change in the prefix score, either plus or minus, when measured between two networks mentioned in the insight (see KMI Scoring Procedure).

  Note: Insights are listed in order of magnitude (high importance to low).

• Insights type: A lozenge stating the insight's type (see KMI Insight Types):

  • If the insight's information is positive (e.g., a customer has been gained): The lozenge is green with an up-trend arrow.

  • If the information is negative (e.g., a customer has been lost): The lozenge is red with a down-trend arrow.

• Time stamp: How long ago the insight was surfaced.

• Description: A brief sentence explaining what happened, which varies depending on the insight type. The sentence will include a blue ASN lozenge; click it to open a popup that includes the AS’s country of registration and links to related destinations in Kentik (see ASN in Ranking Over Time List).

Top Insights Configuration

Top Insights are configured in the Configure Insights pane, which is opened via the Options menu (see Top Insights UI). The pane includes the following settings:

• Use Geo Market Filter: A checkbox that, when checked, filters insights to those that are relevant to the selected Geo Market filter (see KMI Filter Bar). If the checkbox is checked, the current Geo Market will be shown in parenthesis at the top of the Top Insights pane. If the box is unchecked, results for all markets are shown.

• Lookback range: A set of radio buttons that determines how old insights will be when they are dropped from the Top Insights list: 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days.

• Minimum Magnitude: A slider that lets you set the magnitude below which an insight won't be displayed in the list.

• Insight Types: A series of checkboxes with which you can specify the types of insights you'd like to include in the list (see KMI Insight Types).

• Save: A button that saves configuration changes and returns you to the Top Insights pane.

• Cancel: A button that cancels configuration changes and returns configuration settings to what they were before the Configuration Insights pane was opened. You will return to the Top Insights pane.

KMI Insight Types

KMI currently supports the following types of insights:

• Market Entrance: An AS is newly transiting prefixes that are geolocated to the market currently set with the Geo Market filter. The insight includes the AS's rank in that market.

• Market Exit: An AS that was transiting prefixes that are geolocated to this market is no longer doing so.

• Ranking Gain: An AS has increased in rank relative to other ASes transiting prefixes geolocated to this market. This can either be caused by an increase in the address space transited or because another AS that was ranked higher has dropped due to a decrease in the amount of address space from this market. The insight shows how many places it rose, and its new ranking.

• Ranking Loss: An AS has decreased in rank relative to other ASes transiting prefixes geolocated to this market. This can either be caused by a decrease in the address space transited or because another AS that was ranked lower has moved up the rankings due to an increase in the amount of address space transited from this market. The insight shows how many places it fell, and its new ranking.

• Start Prefix Origination: An AS has begun to originate one or more prefixes in the geolocation as determined by the Geo Market filter.

• Stop Prefix Origination: An AS is no longer originating one or more prefixes in the geolocation as determined by the Geo Market filter.

• Increase Prefix Origination: An AS has increased the amount of IP space originated in this geolocation. The insight shows all providers that have increased prefix origination and by what percentage.

• Decrease Prefix Origination: An AS has decreased the amount of IP space originated in this geolocation. The insight shows all providers that have decreased prefix origination and by what percentage.

• Customer Gain: A new AS has been classified as a transit customer of this AS. The insight shows the name of the provider and the name of the customer it gained.

• Customer Loss: An AS is no longer classified as a transit customer of this AS. The insight shows the name of the provider and the name of the customer it lost.

• Customer Routing Gain: A customer AS has increased the IP space transited by this AS. The insight shows the name of the provider, the name of the customer, and the percentage by which routing was increased.

• Customer Routing Loss: A customer AS has decreased the IP space transited by this AS. The insight shows the name of the provider, the name of the customer, and the percentage by which routing was decreased.

• Provider Gain: A new AS has been classified as a transit provider of this AS.

• Provider Loss: An AS is no longer classified as a transit provider of this AS.

• Provider Routing Gain: A provider AS has increased the IP space transited from this AS. The insight shows the name of the AS, the provider to which it increased routing, and by what percentage.

• Provider Routing Loss: A provider AS has decreased the IP space transited from this AS. The insight shows the name of the AS, the provider to which it decreased routing, and by what percentage.

Note: In the above descriptions, "this AS" refers to the AS of an AS Details Page.      

KMI Agent for AI Advisor

The KMI Agent for AI Advisor provides conversational access to KMI data directly within the Kentik platform.

Overview

The KMI Agent for AI Advisor (AIA) is an intelligent assistant integrated into Kentik’s AI Advisor (AIA). Powered by global Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing data from KMI, this agent specializes in analyzing ASNs, network topologies, and market dynamics through a conversational interface. The AIA documentation provides more information on using AIA.

To query the KMI Agent for AIA: Click Ask in the top navigation bar and enter plain-language questions regarding your network telemetry, traffic patterns, and performance in the AI Advisor dialog.

Key Differentiators

While the standard KMI portal provides structured charts and visual workflows, the KMI Agent for AIA expands functionality by dynamically combining multiple backend tools to query BGP data. Three specific examples include:

• Strategic & Analytical Reasoning: Resolves open-ended strategic questions (e.g., target customer recommendations or root-cause ranking drop analysis) with data-backed explanations.

• Natural-Language Historical Access: Queries network states and relationship shifts across any timeframe in the dataset using natural-language time expressions (e.g., "last quarter", "30 days ago").

• Prefix-Level Visibility: Inspects specific IPv4 and IPv6 address blocks transited across individual network edges or relationships.

• Targeted/Detailed Network Edge visibility: Displays the evolution of an edge score over time and displays the current IP prefixes routed across the edge.

Agent Capabilities & Functions

The KMI Agent for AIA supports the following core operational and strategic analysis workflows:

ASN Rankings and Market Position

The KMI Agent for AIA evaluates global, regional, and national market positioning across core data ranking dimensions. The following table describes the primary ranking dimensions available in the agent, their analytical use cases, and how to query them.

Geographic Coverage & Data Dimensions

The KMI Agent for AIA processes BGP routing data across multiple geographic scopes and technical parameters:

• Geographic Scope: Automatically scopes queries across hierarchical market levels, including Global, Continent, Major Region, Minor Region, Country (~240 countries), and US States/Regions.

• Address Families: Defaults to IPv4 data; IPv6 analysis can be specified explicitly within the prompt.

• Historical Depth: Supports point-in-time queries and trend analysis across any historical timeframe covered by the dataset.

KMI AI Agent for AIA Advisor Best Practices

Review the following operational constraints when constructing queries for the KMI Agent:

• Metric Basis: KMI Agent rankings measure transited IP address space, not physical traffic volume. See KMI Ranking Methodology for details.

• Market Scope: Relationship profiles, rankings, and Single Homed ASes classifications vary by geographic market.

• Query Performance: Deep prefix-level queries for large global ASNs may take longer to return than general relationship queries.

KMI Ranking Methodology

How does Kentik assign rankings to the ASes listed in KMI? The key assumption behind our methodology is that the volume of transited internet traffic is correlated to the amount of transited IP address space. In other words, the more transited  the IP address space, the more potential for transited internet traffic and the higher the transit score.

The volume of IP address space routed through each AS in a given geography determines its score and overall ranking. A step-by-step description of the process is provided in KMI Scoring Procedure.

BGP Data Source

The computation covered in KMI Scoring Procedure is performed daily (with greater frequency planned in the future). The BGP data we use is collected from the public RouteViews project at University of Oregon, which collects BGP data from global vantage points around the world.

Note: Future plans for KMI include expanding vantage points and visibility by augmenting the RouteViews dataset with data from our own BGP sessions with customers.

KMI Scoring Procedure

The ranking of ASes for KMI is a multi-step process, which is covered in the topics below.

Step 1: Classify AS-AS Relationships

Every AS-AS adjacency is classified as either transit or peering through a machine learning algorithm that accounts for several factors. We start with a known set of ASes that make up the default-free zone (DFZ), which is the handful of companies (e.g., NTT, Arelion, Cogent, etc.) that don’t buy transit from any other providers. With rare exceptions, AS paths exhibit a “valley-free” property that can be used to determine the transit relationships between ASes in the global routing table.

To illustrate the logic, consider the below example of ASx, which passes a route to DFZ AS1, which then passes the route to DFZ AS2:
... « DFZ AS2 « DFZ AS1 « ASx

Because DFZ ASes don’t buy transit, ASx can’t be a provider to DFZ AS1. It also can’t be a peer to DFZ AS1 without violating the valley-free rule, because relationships between DFZ ASes must be peering and two successive peering relationships are not allowed. ASx must therefore be a transit customer of DFZ AS1, and any ASes that appear to the right of ASx in an AS path should be classified as customers of ASx solely by virtue of the valley-free rule.

The above pattern can be applied until every AS-AS relationship is classified as either transit or peering. In so doing, a number of heuristics are employed to account for exceptions to the valley-free property. For example, the AS of an IXP can appear in an AS path when it is simply serving as the “glue” between two peers rather than as a direct participant in the relationship. In these cases, the IXP AS is removed from consideration in the evaluation of the relationship of the adjacent ASes.

Step 2: Score Routed Prefixes

Every routed prefix is assigned a score based on its prefix length:

• IP v4: The weight of one prefix is (1 + 24 - masklen)³ for masklen between 8 and 24 inclusive (prefixes outside this range are ignored).

• IP v6: The weight of one prefix is currently (1 + 48 - masklen)³ for masklen between 24 and 48 inclusive. However v6 prefixes between /16 and /24 get the same score, as well as prefixes between /48 and /64, which get a score of 1.

Step 3: Assign Geo and Transit Scores

Each prefix propagated across an AS-AS adjacency that has been classified as transit is assigned both a geolocation and a transit score that determine how the prefix contributes to the transit score of the provider of the adjacency:

• Geolocation: The geolocation is typically a country, which results in the prefix score contributing to the provider’s country, subcontinent, continent, and global transit scores. If the prefix is anycasted, however, it contributes only to global scores.

• Transit score: Depending on the AS hop count from the prefix's origin in the AS path, prefix scores contribute to the following types of transit scores:

  • Retail score of the origin AS as well as any single-homed upstream

  • Wholesale score of the next transit AS after the origin or single-homed upstream

  • Backbone score of the next transit AS after the wholesale AS

  • Customer base score of any AS classified as a transit provider regardless of location in the AS path

    

Step 4: Rank ASes by Transit Score

Once the geolocation and transit score contribution to each AS has been calculated for every prefix in the global routing table, Kentik has a complete set of transit scores by geolocation and score type, which means that every AS that is either originating a prefix or transiting one will have some type of transit score for at least one geography. KMI can then rank ASes by transit scores of each type for every geolocation.

Step 5: Rank ASes by Peering Score

Peer rankings apply to ASes that have peering relationships. As with transit rankings, these rankings are based on observing IP address space. The greater the amount of address space sent over a settlement-free peering session, the greater the potential for traffic to be “peered off” or sent cost-free, avoiding transit costs. So generally speaking, the more address space sent to an AS via peering, the higher the AS's peering rank will be.

ASes with peering relationships can also be ranked within a specified geography based on their overall peering base score. The peering base score for an AS is the sum of the scores for each of its peer ASes.