Why IXP Peak Traffic Growth Represents a Stronger Internet for Businesses

January 13, 2021

While most major cities have a peering exchange point (140 IXPs in north America alone), each one can be very different. The ability of an IXP to reroute and direct traffic between networks via peering is what makes the internet a viable and low-cost data transfer mesh. IXPs are the foundation supporting most traffic where countless networks connect for traffic exchange.

That’s one reason growing peak traffic is a sign of the success of all IXPs and also an individual marker of success and effectiveness as an attractive hub for countless networks.

Peak traffic is most often associated with specific times of the day and annual events or times of the year.

But we understand that random black swan events can also spur peak traffic such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As it forced entire business sectors to switch to remote workforces where possible, internet traffic spikes were an ongoing fact for many IXPs with every global peering exchange seeing spikes. We see that the effects of the pandemic increased traffic by 60 percent by total bandwidth handled per country over Q1 of 2020. That’s according to Packet Clearing house Data compiled for a recent Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) policy response report.

There are other factors at work in the upsurge in peak traffic beyond the effects of anomalous but longer-term events like the pandemic. An increasingly common factor is that network operators and untold business and commercial sectors that they serve are looking to align with the peering exchange that offers reliability, stability, and security. This is also true of mobile broadband operators and major content providers that have major end user bases surrounding major urban centers and highly populated regions like New York and the Tri-state area.

These entitles will most often gravitate to the internet peering exchange point chosen by its allies and competitors operating in the same markets. While this increases peak traffic for the IXP, its partners are also looking at the ability of the IXP to meet those peaks through the latest technology infrastructure and broadest number of connectivity partners.

But beyond these natural and anomalous event spikes are the spikes that show the true growth of an internet peering exchange point. The combination of superior technology trusted partners and an unbending resiliency are just three of the ingredients that attract new peering members both large and small.

A significant number of these IXPs are operating as a true global peering exchange, which increases their importance for partner users that require resiliency and an ability to handle increasing traffic peaks. These IXPs become more attractive because of their natural, symbiotic relationship with colocation data centers where they have nodes in the cities where they are located.

Increasing peak traffic of an IXP is more than just a sign of its strength, resiliency, and reliability for its partner users. It represents the ability for these partners and their countless end users to move data quickly, efficiently, and inexpensively to make for a stronger internet ecosystem for everyone. To learn more about how the right peering exchange can support your data traffic needs for speed, agility, and cost effectiveness, visit the Telehouse Peering page.