The study reveals a steady transformation over the past decade in how networks choose to interconnect in the US. Neutral IX models, managed by a neutral third party rather than a data center operator or carrier, have become the preferred choice for most network operators. These neutral IXs have experienced a boom in the last ten years, increasing sixfold and fundamentally changing how the internet routes itself within and across North American cities.
Nationally, the results show that New York City stands out as the country's leading interconnection hub, with nearly 40% more aggregated network connections than Seattle, in second place, or Los Angeles, in third. While all cities surveyed in the study show strong growth in networks redundantly connected to multiple IXs, New York City has up to 50% more redundantly connected networks than other cities. New York City is also the only U.S. city to host four large-scale interconnection networks (IXs), two of which are carrier-neutral IXs distributed across multiple data centers.
New York's largest IX, DE-CIX New York, is carrier-neutral and distributed across more than 30 data centers throughout the metropolitan area, providing networks with greater redundancy and resilience and avoiding vendor lock-in. Celebrating its tenth anniversary today, the IX demonstrated the demand for the carrier-neutral interconnection model as soon as it was established in 2014, rising to third place in the city in 2015, second in 2016, and becoming the city's largest IX in 2017—a position it has maintained and strengthened ever since. DE-CIX New York is the youngest IX to become one of the top five largest in the United States. The IX is built on award-winning interconnect technology and was the first IX to be certified by Open-IX, an industry-leading certification body for operational and engineering standards and best practices for Internet Exchange providers, which is also celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
“Our latest study clearly demonstrates the strength of the distributed data center and neutral Internet Exchange model and its enormous positive impact on the New York market and beyond, across the United States,” said Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX. “The distributed, neutral IX model offers networks flexibility, redundancy, and high-performance interconnection, while providing data center operators with access to vibrant and diverse interconnection ecosystems, with benefits they can pass on to their customers. When we entered the New York market ten years ago, the importance of a complementary offering in the New York market to attract more networks and enable mutual growth became crystal clear. The facts demonstrate that it’s all about community, comprised of network operators, data centers, and IX. This great city’s unique community will continue to grow and develop together for the digital future,” Ivanov added.
“It has been an honor to work in data centers across the New York metropolitan area, where we have often been able to serve as the first major hub or where we have added the ability to easily connect to a second, complementary hub,” said Ed d’Agostino, Vice President of DE-CIX North America. “It’s fantastic to be part of this win-win scenario.”
With 40% more aggregated network connections, New York's robust interconnection ecosystem contrasts sharply with Seattle, which boasts a large, neutral IX but no significant complementary offerings in the market, and Los Angeles, where the data center-operated model remains dominant. DE-CIX's study, "The Shifting Interconnection Landscape in the US," which highlights the adoption of the neutral interconnection model in the US and its impact on interconnection and data center markets at the national and city levels, will be published in full later this year.
DE-CIX currently operates five US internet and cloud exchanges (Chicago, Dallas, New York, Phoenix, and Richmond), as well as a dedicated cloud exchange in Seattle. These exchanges are interconnected for remote access and together represent the largest interconnection ecosystem in North America. In 2023, the IX operator expanded its reach southward with new locations in Mexico City and Querétaro.
Equinix selects Infinera Cloud Xpress for data center interconnection in Hong Kong
Infinera announces that Equinix has selected Infinera Cloud Xpress to interconnect its data centers in Hong Kong. Infinera Cloud Xpress offers Equinix a platform with hyperscale density, operational simplicity, and low power consumption.
