QTS Realty Trust has secured Open-IX certification for three of its data centers, joining the multi-company effort to create a distributed member-governed Internet exchange system in North America.
Open-IX is a non-profit industry group comprised of data center and network service providers, as well as providers of Internet-based products and content. Its member list includes representatives from Google, Twitter, Microsoft, Netflix and Comcast, to name a few. Among data center providers that participate are Rackspace, CyrusOne, Vantage, CoreSite, Digital Realty Trust and DuPont Fabros among others.
Counterweight to Equinix, Telx
The non-profit was formed to provide an adequate alternative to the biggest Internet exchanges in North America, nearly all of which are commercially operated and controlled by a handful of companies, including Equinix, Telx and Verizon Terremark. Equinix is far ahead of all others in terms of the number of companies trading Internet traffic through its exchanges.
To participate in Open-IX, data center providers and exchange operators have to satisfy criteria set by the organization. The goal is to standardize exchanges across multiple sites and, hopefully, to attract enough peering members to the community to enable the distributed exchange to compete with the likes of Equinix and Telx.
QTS joins group of certified firms
QTS is the latest data center provider to have its facilities certified, following certification announcements by DuPont Fabros, CyrusOne, Continuum, Digital Realty and EvoSwitch.
Only two exchanges have been certified so far, both of them European companies that have recently expanded into the U.S., in parallel with Open-IX efforts. LINX (London Internet Exchange) has received certification for its LINX NoVA exchange in Ashburn, Virginia, and AMS-IX (Amsterdam Internet Exchange) has gotten exchange infrastructure in New York City certified.
QTS received Open-IX blessings for data centers in Atlanta, Georgia, Suwanee (an Atlanta suburb) and in Richmond, Virginia. The stamp of approval means the facilities can now host Open-IX-certified Internet exchanges.
"Achieving OIX-2 certification for three QTS data centers demonstrates our commitment to provide our customers with best-in-class, carrier-neutral Internet connectivity and interconnection options at our data centers," Jim Reinhart, the company’s chief operations officer, said. "We fully support OIX's efforts to foster the development of critical technical and operating standards for the data center industry, ultimately for the benefit of all Internet users."