When buying connectivity for a number of racks, and with one eye on the budget (and potential price rises like power) i have been trying to understand the differing attributes of full and partial transit.

Am I right in thinking that partial transit is where a supplier (the upstream ISP) has made private arrangements to 'swap' traffic locally with a number of other ISPs / hosts / ADSL providers etc, and this traffic doesnt ever reach the Internet backbone (ie goes from my server to my chosen supplier who sends it off direct to xyz domestic adsl ISP). The higher the number of private interconnect deals my provider does, the higher their 'number' - any route not covered by a deal simply wont connect

Full transit is then 'proper' connectivity to the backbone via 'the big boys' - guaranteed to get there (ok well no actual guarantees!)

As an example (only!) one transit supplier is offering partial transit at under £2 a mbit in 100Mbit lumps, but full at £12 a Mbit (no names so im not accused of promoting etc!).

Presumably to get the best bang for the buck I buy some of each and either they (how?) or I (BGP4 router?) blend it all together. The ratio depends on how full their partial is, and my traffic profile?

Assuming we're talking CDRs of 100Mbit plus, would it be usual to buy in a mix like this, and generally do i run the router or would they as part of the deal?

Thanks once again to anyone who answers one of my never ending questions...!

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