Parties can decide to let workloads pass freely, called settlement-free peering. This is a common form of peering in situations in which both parties benefit mutually from the peering agreement. If the peering advantages are however not symmetrical, parties can also charge other members of an internet exchange for the use of their network. This is called paid peering.

To use peering, an AS must connect to a peering infrastructure. Multiple options are available: local and remote peering. Local peering - also called direct peering - is relevant for ASes geographically close to the metro area of a peering infrastructure. In this case the AS physically connects their access router to the switching fabric of an internet exchange.

An alternative to local peering is remote peering. Using remote peering, parties establish a peering relationship and connect their networks remotely. This means that the parties involved don’t need a physical presence in the same facility, and therefore gain flexibility.

Local and remote peering are both suitable and relevant for different use cases. In short, local peering is ideal for networks within the same datacenter or region, while remote peering allows you to bridge geographical gaps. Local peering focuses on keeping local traffic local, while remote peering extends connectivity globally.