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Roundup: Cisco’s Space Router, AboveNet
January 25th, 2010 : John RathHere’s a roundup of some of some of this week’s headlines from the data center and hosting industry:
Cisco space router operates in orbit. On Monday Cisco announced that their Internet Routing in Space (IRIS) technology has achieved a major milestone with the successful in-orbit test of the Cisco IOS software’s networking capabilities and the company’s on-board router. The technology was aboard an Intelsat IS-14 commercial GEO satellite and launched November 23, 2009. The Cisco IRIS technology is a program to build a radiation-tolerant IP router for satellite and related spacecraft. Cisco vice president for the Global Government Solutions Group Steven Boutelle said “this milestone is another step in our strategy to expand borderless networks into space and redefine how satellite communications are delivered. This technology can help transform satellite communications around the world by reducing latency and increasing the efficiency.” Managed by Cisco and Intelsat the IRIS program is a Department of Defense Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) and the payload will convert to commercial use following a three month JCTD in April 2010.
AboveNet connects all 20 Equinix U.S. data centers. Equinix (EQIX) and AboveNet (ABVT) announced that AboveNet has deployed operations to the Equinix New York-1 data center, marking the company’s deployment to all 20 of Equinix’s IBX centers in the U.S. AboveNet offers managed services, Ethernet, metro networks and a global Tier 1 optical IP network. Making use of the Equinix global services delivery platform, AboveNet will enhance peering capabilities with other Tier 1 networks. Equinix chief marketing officer Jarrett Appleby said “our partnership with AboveNet offers a strong Tier 1 network and high bandwidth connectivity solution options for the community of IBX participants while offering AboveNet significant new revenue opportunities and a national infrastructure for Tier 1 peering and future carrier Ethernet needs.” Equinix acquisition target Switch and Data announced that Lexent Metro Connect, a dark fiber network provider in New York, has become part of the Switch and Data GeoReach program. Lexent Metro Connect has also completed construction of a low-latency dark fiber network route to Switch and Data’s North Bergen site located in New Jersey. The GeoReach program is a select group of providers who have engineered their networks to meet the needs of the high-efficiency trading community.
Huawei to deploy DWDM platform for GlobeNet. Global telecommunications solution provider Huawei was selected to deploy a next generation DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) optical platform for network transport services company GlobeNet. The Huawei platform will connect GlobeNet’s cable landing station in southern New Jersey to its Point of Presence sites in New York city via two diverse paths. The diverse paths will allow GlobeNet to deliver services to their other sites in Brazil, Venezuela, Bermuda, Florida and others. The network solution provided by Huawei will support 10Gb per second, 40GB per second and future 100Gb per second wavelengths to competitively deliver advanced, high bandwidth services.
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Resource: Dr. Peering is In The House
October 29th, 2009 : Rich MillerHave you ever wanted to know more about Internet peering? Then you’ll definitely want to check out the Dr. Peering web site set up by Bill Norton, a co-founder of Equinix who has written many white papers about peering. The site was launched in February based on an idea developed over beers at the Global Peering Forum.
The site features Norton’s many peering white papers, including his widely-discussed analysis of the ”wave of disruption” from Internet video. There’s also the Ask Dr. Peering question and answer column, which this month examines Transit Provider Selection.
Peering allows two providers exchanging large volumes of traffic to save money by connecting directly, rather than routing traffic across their paid Internet connections. Peering is often free as long as the amount of traffic exchanged is not out of balance, providing substantial cost savings for bandwidth for high-traffic sites and networks.
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Peering Disputes Migrate to IPv6
October 22nd, 2009 : Rich Miller
To address an IPv6 peering dispute, Hurricane Electric baked a cake with a message for Cogent Communications. The cake was devoured by hungry network professionals at the NANOG 47 meeting.
IPv6 is the next generation of the Internet Protocol, and will dramatically expand the number of addresses available for web sites, as well as millions of mobile devices with Internet access. Although the transition will address some of the network’s challenges, others will clearly persist. That includes disputes over peering, which have quickly made the jump from IPv4 to IPv6.
Complaints of a “broken IPv6 Internet” emerged last week on the North American Network Operators Group mailing list, which surfaced a peering issue involving IPv6 connections between Hurricane Electric and Cogent Communications. That prompted a response from Hurricane’s Mike Leber, who blamed Cogent for the difficulties.
“If you’ve been around long enough, you’d know that normally nobody talks about peering publicly like this,” Leber wrote. “Then why would I write this post? Because I want to set the record straight regarding Hurricane Electric’s IPv6 peering goals, and nothing in Cogent’s case seems to get through to them.”
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Roundup: DataPipe, Peak 10, Equinix, APC
September 1st, 2009 : John RathHere’s a roundup of some of some of this week’s headlines from the data center and hosting industry:
- DataPipe rolls out 3PAR services. Utility storage provider 3PAR announced Monday that Cloud-Agile partner DataPipe now offers differentiated virtual private array (VPA) and disaster recovery (DR) services as a part of their Stratosphere cloud services, which are powered by 3PAR Utility Storage. DataPipe’s cloud platform leverages VMware and 3PAR to offer a managed, secure virtualized service. “We now have the opportunity to expand our cloud service offerings in the areas of security and compliance to increase the value we offer our customers,” said Michael Parks, Chief Technology Officer for DataPipe. The 3PAR ASSURED product allows DataPipe to use remote copy, data replication, DR and automatic data backup to end users. The 3PAR SECURED product offers isolated, secure virtual private array servies.
- Peak 10 deploys VMware vSphere 4. Data center operator Peak 10 announced the delivery of Private Cloud Infrastructure Solutions, via VMware’s vSphere 4 platform. The platform offers customers pools of virtualized resources that federate between on and off-premise environments on-demand and with ease. By using vSphere 4 Peak 10 customers can maintain the integrity of their data and applications, while migrating to the cloud platform. Peak 10’s leadership team are in San Francisco this week attending the VMworld 2009 conference. Enhancements allowed from Peak 10’s vSphere 4 platform include twice as many virtual processors per virtual machine, four times the memory, three-times increase in network throughput, and additional SAN tiers available for high-end databases.
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Telx Opens Exchanges in Dallas, NYC
June 17th, 2009 : Rich MillerTelx has launched new Telx Internet Exchange (TIE) peering platforms in the New York and Dallas markets, the company said today. The New York TIE service will be offered in Telx facilites at two major carrier hotels in Manhattan at 60 Hudson Street and 111 8th Avenue. More than 400 service provider and enterprise customers are connected with Telx in these buildings. In Dallas, a new exchange will allow customers to leverage peering within 2323 Bryan and the Telx facility at 8345 Stemmons Freeway.
“Telx is fully committed to providing superior Internet Exchange points within its facilities, and as a result have chosen to launch the next phases of our Internet Exchanges in the New York and Dallas markets,” said Michael Lucking, Director of IP Development and Engineering. Telx has existing TIE peering nodes in Atlanta and Phoenix.
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Peering Key to Managing Bandwidth Bills
June 9th, 2009 : Rich Miller
Equinix is the industry leader in peering, a traffic management strategy that can help large companies save money on their bandwidth bills and improve network performance. The explosive growth of Internet traffic, driven by the emergence of online video and photo sharing, has made peering perhaps more important than ever.Peering allows two providers exchanging large volumes of traffic to save money by connecting directly, rather than routing traffic across their paid Internet connections. Peering is often free as long as the amount of traffic exchanged is not out of balance, providing substantial cost savings for bandwidth for high-traffic sites and networks. Internet exchanges allow participants to peer with other providers connected to the exchange.
Equinix and other peering specialists provide the physical network connections between networks. This can be done by running a cable between the two companies’ network equipment, which is known as a cross-connect. This is an effective means of connecting one network to another.
But what if your company needs to exchange traffic with many different providers? Each Equinix data center includes The Equinix Exchange, a central meeting place where companies can peer with multiple providers, exchanging traffic over a 10-Gigabit Ethernet fabric. The ability to connect to so many key partners in a single location makes peering points critical to the growth and network management for companies with large Internet operations.
Equinix is the largest player in the peering arena. Other companies with significant peering businesses include Switch and Data (which operates the former PAIX interconnection sites), Terremark, Telehouse, Telx, CRG West and Interxion.
Peering is most often in the news when two companies have a dispute over the details of their traffic exchange agreements. When the balance of traffic between peering partners gets out of whack, someone usually wants to get paid. If they can’t work things out, one provider may “unplug” the peering connection, causing problems for users who’ve come to rely on their ability to access the other network.
An example: During the 2008 peering dispute between Cogent and Telia, gamers whose ISPs relied solely on Cogent for connectivity were unable to access World of Warcraft, the world’s most popular online game.
Peering disputes are really loud business negotiations, with angry customers used as leverage by either side. They usually end with one side agreeing to pay up or manage their traffic differently.
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PAIX: A Key Hub, From Alta Vista To Facebook
February 11th, 2009 : Rich Miller
A look at the battery room in the Switch and Data PAIX data center in Palo Alto, Calif.
Last week I noticed a link touting an “Exclusive Look at Facebook’s Main Data Center” and clicked through, only to encounter photos of the building housing the Palo Alto Internet Exchange (PAIX). Apparently Facebook’s mojo has made its presence the headline-grabber in any facility where it houses equipment. But veterans of the data center industry know that the PAIX, which is now operated by Switch and Data (SDXC), has a fabled history that predates the social networking boom.In 1996 the PAIX facility was established as the first major carrier-neutral Internet exchange point, providing connectivity from multiple fiber providers. That bucked the trend at a time when most major exchange points were owned or controlled by telecom companies. The Palo Alto exchange was launched in the incubator labs of Digital Equipment, and its founders included Jay Adelson (who went on to found Equinix and Digg) and Paul Vixie (author of BIND and a key player in the DNS industry).
“The primary reasons the Palo Alto exchange existed was for interconnections,” said Drew Leonard, a PAIX veteran who is now director product marketing for Switch and Data. “It wasn’t a server farm. It was really customers who wanted access to the PAIX peering fabric.”
That peering operation started in the basement, which quickly got crowded as demand for space grew. “We were putting people everywhere just to fit them in,” Leonard recalled. The technical space was soon expanded to the first floor, and has since grown to encompass nearly the entire building.
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Cogent, Sprint Reconcile on Peering
December 22nd, 2008 : Rich MillerThis year’s marquee peering dispute has been a dust-up between Cogent Communications (CCOI) and Sprint, which depeered Cogent in late October, which affected the Internet routing of hundreds of customers of both networks. After several days of customer complaints, Sprint restored its connection with Cogent but emphasized that it was a “temporary reconnection” while they work out their differences.
Today the two companies announced that they have reached a multi-year interconnection agreement that effectively resolves the earlier dispute. “The specifics of this agreement are confidential,” the announcement noted, while addingthat the agreement “is in accordance with both parties’ previous and long standing interconnection policies and agreements.” Translation: neither party will acknowledge blinking, but the customers are now spared the effects of further peering drama.
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Sprint, Cogent Resume Peering, Keep Arguing
November 2nd, 2008 : Rich MillerAs we predicted Friday, the peering dispute between Sprint and Cogent didn’t last long. Sprint said tonight that it has ” initiated a temporary reconnection” to Cogent’s network while the two companies seek to work out their differences. In its statement, Sprint made it clear that the reconnection was “temporary only, as the core issues in this dispute have not changed.”Not surprisingly, Sprint blames Cogent for the breakdown between the two companies and says Cogent’s press release Friday (which blamed Sprint for the dispute) contains ”a number of distortions.” Here’s Sprint’s version of events: In mid-2007 Sprint and Cogent began a trial peering agreement to determine if the two companies could exchange traffic “settlement-free.” Peering is often free as long as the amount of traffic exchanged is not out of balance.
“Cogent did not meet the minimum traffic exchange criteria agreed to by both parties,” Sprint says “As a result, settlement-free peering was not established and Cogent was notified in writing of these results.”
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