Bundled Peering Service

Equinix's Equinix Exchange service may provide a cost-effective network traffic exchange for ISPs of all sizes at the company's neutral Internet Business Exchange (IBX) centers.

by Wayne Kawamoto
[December 16, 2000]

Equinix announced the launch of Equinix Exchange, a new bundled service designed to facilitate ISP and content peering at Internet Business Exchange (IBX) centers. According to the company, Equinix Exchange offers an efficient and cost-effective option to leverage the Internet companies that operate within Equinix IBX centers for traffic exchange and transit. The service will initially be available in the Washington, D.C. and Silicon Valley area IBX centers and will be rolled out to additional IBX centers in 2001.

Equinix Exchange should allow ISPs, content providers, and e-commerce companies to establish a network or content presence within an IBX center quickly, easily, and at a competitive price. The service bundle includes access to Equinix' gigabit Ethernet central switching fabric and the supporting infrastructure to enable companies to connect to a variety of Internet infrastructure service partners participating in Equinix IBX centers.

Equinix Exchange may facilitate direct network traffic exchange between an aggregation of ISPs in a centralized location, which can enhance the speed and reliability of traffic exchange. Additionally, the company says that ISPs can reduce the costs of establishing connections to each other in multiple locations. Equinix Exchange may also provide large ISPs with the ability to gain access to a significant aggregation of potential transit customers, including smaller ISPs, in a single location. Equinix says that its Exchange extends the IBX marketplace of top tier networks and service providers to a wider potential participant base of content providers and e-commerce companies for traffic exchange and transit. Content providers and e-commerce companies that host their own content or locate their content in traditional hosting facilities, can now connect their networks to the aggregation of network providers participating in Equinix IBX centers to bring content closer to a wider audience of end users.

Equinix claims that its neutral IBX centers enable Internet companies to quickly, easily, and privately interconnect with a choice of business partners, service providers and customers, providing them with the flexibility, speed, and adaptability they need to accelerate business growth, and improve Internet performance. Equinix currently operates six IBX centers, totaling more than 500,000 square feet, in the greater New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley metropolitan areas.

"Equinix IBX centers serve as open marketplaces and hubs for leading Internet companies to come together to do business with each other," said Peter Van Camp, CEO of Equinix. "Equinix Exchange allows companies, such as ISPs, content providers or e-commerce companies to cost-effectively establish a network presence in our hubs of Internet commerce and exchange. The result is direct interconnection to a critical mass of top Internet companies and faster and more reliable exchange of traffic."

"Equinix Exchange leverages the uniquely neutral environment of Equinix Internet Business Exchange (IBX) centers to benefit ISPs of all sizes," said Jay Adelson CTO of Equinix. "ISPs can establish a cost effective presence in an IBX center to peer with a concentration of other ISPs via a Gigabit Ethernet switch, reducing the costs of establishing connections to each other in multiple locations. Larger ISPs benefit from the ability to reach a concentration of other ISPs who are potential transit customers."

Availability
Equinix Exchange will be available in the Washington, D.C. area Internet Business Exchange (IBX) center in January, and it will be available in the Silicon Valley IBX in February.

A multimedia tour of the Equinix IBX centers is available here.

—End

 

Related articles:
	[Sep. 6, 2000]	How Neutral is Carrier Neutral?
	[June 30, 2000]	Is a Bandwidth Marketplace Possible?