# Data Sources and Coverage ## Overview Provider Intelligence's recommendations are only as good as the data underpinning them. This article explains: * **Where the data comes from**: ThousandEyes Cloud and Enterprise Agents and third-party provider databases. * **Coverage gaps**: Why some providers appear with "No Data" and how to interpret this. * **Agent proxies**: How Cloud and Enterprise Agent data serves as a proxy for end-user experience. Understanding data sources is critical for evaluating the reliability and objectivity of Provider Intelligence results. ## Primary Data Source ThousandEyes operates a global network of Cloud and Enterprise Agents, which are virtual machines deployed in data centers worldwide that continuously generate synthetic tests. These tests measure: * **Network-layer metrics**: Latency, packet loss, jitter. * **Application-layer metrics**: Time to First Byte (TTFB), HTTP response times, page load times. ### Coverage Cloud and Enterprise Agents are deployed in hundreds of cities across six continents, providing broad geographic coverage. However, coverage is not universal: * **High Coverage**: Major cities in North America, Europe, and parts of Asia-Pacific (for example, New York, London, Tokyo). * **Moderate Coverage**: Secondary cities and emerging markets (for example, Bangalore, São Paulo, Johannesburg). * **Low Coverage**: Remote or smaller cities might have limited or no agent presence. To check current coverage: 1. Navigate to **Internet Insights > Catalog Settings > Providers** or **Internet Insights > Catalog Settings > Packages.** 2. Click any package or provider to view its **Coverage Map** (if available). ### Test Frequency and Volume * **Granularity**: Tests run continuously, with data aggregated at 1-hour intervals. * **Volume**: Provider Intelligence processes over 8 billion data points daily from Cloud and Enterprise Agent tests. * **Duration**: Historical data is retained for up to 6 months. ## Third-Party Data Sources Not all Autonomous Systems (ASNs) represent providers that you can purchase internet services from. Some are: * **Private ASNs**: Used by individual organizations for internal routing (for example, a bank's internal network). * **Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)**: Not traditional networks (for example, Cloudflare, Akamai). * **Hosting Providers**: Might not offer commercial connectivity contracts (for example, AWS, Google Cloud). To ensure Provider Intelligence only compares **commercially available** **providers**, ThousandEyes uses two authoritative databases: * APNIC (Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre) * PeeringDB ### APNIC Website: #### What It Provides APNIC maintains a database of ASNs with metadata including: * Geographic presence (countries, cities). * Provider type (ISP, CDN, hosting provider). * Commercial availability status. #### How Provider Intelligence Uses It APNIC data is used to: 1. Identify which ASNs are ISPs vs. other network types. 2. Determine geographic footprint (for example, "Verizon operates in 50 US cities"). 3. Filter out private or non-commercial ASNs from user-facing results. ### PeeringDB Website: [https://www.peeringdb.com](https://www.peeringdb.com/) #### What It Provides PeeringDB is a community-maintained database of: * Internet exchange points (IXPs). * Peering relationships between ASNs. * Provider facilities and points of presence (PoPs). #### How Provider Intelligence Uses It PeeringDB data is used to: 1. Validate which providers have peering relationships with major cloud providers (for example, AWS, Azure). 2. Identify providers with extensive peering, which often correlates with better performance. 3. Cross-reference APNIC data for accuracy. ### Legal and Attribution ThousandEyes complies with the licensing terms of both APNIC and PeeringDB: * **APNIC**: Re-use is permitted with attribution. * **PeeringDB**: Data is used in accordance with PeeringDB's community guidelines. ## Agent Proxies ### The Proxy Model Cloud and Enterprise Agents are not end-user devices. They are centralized test infrastructure deployed in data centers. However, they serve as **proxies** for end-user experience because: * **Location**: Agents are deployed in cities where your end-users are located (for example, agents in Austin represent end-users in Austin). * **Provider network path**: Agents send tests through the same provider networks that your end-users would use. * **Synthetic tests**: Tests mimic real user actions (for example, loading a web page, connecting to a cloud service). ### Limitations * **Last-mile differences**: Cloud Agents are in data centers with high-quality connectivity. Your end-users on residential or cellular networks might experience different performance. * **Device variability**: Agents use standardized configurations. Real users have diverse devices, browsers, and provider network conditions. * **Geographic granularity**: An agent in "Austin, TX" might not represent performance in specific neighborhoods or suburbs. ## Data Freshness and Updates ### Aggregation Schedule Provider Intelligence data is updated on a **daily basis**: 1. **Hourly tests**: Cloud Agents generate test data every hour. 2. **Daily aggregation**: At midnight UTC, the platform processes the previous 24 hours of data, calculating scores and trends. 3. **Historical queries**: When you run a query, pre-aggregated scores for your selected time frame (1, 3, or 6 months) are retrieved from the database. **Implication**: Data reflects performance up to 24 hours prior. Real-time data (for example, last hour) is not available in Provider Intelligence; use **Network & App Synthetics > Views** for real-time monitoring. ### Data Retention * **6 months**: Standard retention for all Internet Insights customers. * **Longer retention**: Contact ThousandEyes Sales to discuss data retention. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.thousandeyes.com/product-documentation/internet-insights/provider-intelligence/data-sources-and-coverage.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. 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