You're certainly not wrong here -- it all depends what you're measuring and how. The 5-5.5 figure seems to be average length inside the internet routing tables, which is going to be skewed by smaller networks with relatively sparse connectivity and how IP space is carved up geographically.
And perhaps also relevant to the parent's question: path length itself is a pretty poor indicator of network performance by just about any measure you can name (excepting perhaps the TTL field), and is a last resort measure used only when all else is equal.
Perhaps I focused the conversation in the wrong direction by mentioning AS path (and then further by describing the AS path between CDNs and end-users and framing that as "typical"). For a major CDN, most of the bytes served are originating from and destined to the same metro. Unless those CDNs have some serious problems with their RPKI setups, I expect that those bytes are going to continue flowing the same way they have been.
Comments
You're certainly not wrong here -- it all depends what you're measuring and how. The 5-5.5 figure seems to be average length inside the internet routing tables, which is going to be skewed by smaller networks with relatively sparse connectivity and how IP space is carved up geographically.
Perhaps I focused the conversation in the wrong direction by mentioning AS path (and then further by describing the AS path between CDNs and end-users and framing that as "typical"). For a major CDN, most of the bytes served are originating from and destined to the same metro. Unless those CDNs have some serious problems with their RPKI setups, I expect that those bytes are going to continue flowing the same way they have been.