Internet Exchange (IX) where all internet traffic meets
- wandaserkowska1
- Apr 1
- 2 min read
Did you know that most big cities in the world have at least one Internet Exchange Point (#IXP)?
What does an IXP exactly do? And what is its role in the global internet ecosystem?
🌐WHAT is an hashtag#InternetExchange?
📌 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) & Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) use Internet Exchanges (IXes) to connect and exchange (“peer”) their traffic with one another, for free on the public IXP. They connect to the IX environment (which would typically include an hashtag#IX route server & network switches of the peering networks). A simple IX port and a colocation in the datacentre is enough to start peering for a network company.
🌐 WHO can peer on the Internet Exchange?
📌 IX is usually used by ISPs and CDNs to peer their respective traffic. Any network owner can connect and use IXP and resell the internet services access made more cost effective thanks to the exchange.
🌐 WHY IXes continue to grow and what is their role in the global internet exchange?
📌 Using IXes saves cost and decreases latency significantly as IX allows ISPs to reduce their reliance on upstream transit providers thanks to a portion of the internet traffic being peered directly with the relevant networks on the exchange. Through routes switching IXes increase reliability of the internet in general with both service outages & events that cause surges in internet traffic mitigated and their impact reduced thanks to IXes.
🌐WHERE are IXes located?
📌 IXes are usually located in neutral datacentres where they have been set up when internet was just starting and the need for exchanging traffic closer to the user (at the edge) was identified. Datacentres hosting IXes are usually in strategic and historically well-served locations. IXes themselves owned by either Non-profits (AMS-IX), consortiums (LINX), private companies (Equinix) or government owned entities (NIXI).
Notable mentions:
📍Equinix Ashburn IX: the largest IXP in the US, owned & operated by Equinix
📍DE-CIX Frankfurt: one of the biggest IXP in the world by traffic volume
📍NAPAfrica Johannesburg: biggest IX on the African continent, owned & operated by Teraco Data Environments
What other internet efficiency winners are out there, next to IXes?
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