LINX
The beginning of LINX
In November 1994, using a donated piece of equipment no bigger than a video recorder and without any legal contracts, 5 UK-based Internet Service Providers (ISPs) linked their networks in order to exchange data.
That moment was the birth of the London Internet Exchange (LINX) which is now one of the world’s largest Internet Exchange Points (IXP). Today LINX has members from the UK, Europe, the USA, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Africa.
What is LINX?
The London Internet Exchange (LINX) is one of the largest Internet exchanges in the world, connecting over 700 member ASNs from 67 countries around the globe and accessing approximately 80% of the global routing table.
LINX is a not-for-profit organization, mutual membership whose mission is ‘Working for the Good of the Internet’. Telehouse has been the primary home of LINX for over 20 years, supporting Europe’s Internet infrastructure.
“The relationship with Telehouse has enabled us to transform London’s Docklands into one of the world’s leading global Internet hubs. This partnership is only going to grow in importance as the introduction of 100G technology takes hold and the UK requires ever greater connectivity and capacity as traffic grows.”
John Souter, CEO of LINX
Future expansion
LINX continues to expand their London presence with over 11 PoPs across the capital along with regional exchanges in Wales (IXCardiff), IXManchester in the north of England and IXScotland. LINX also operates an Internet exchange in the Ashburn metro area in the US just outside Washington DC, LINX NoVA.
Benefits of peering with LINX
- More efficient routing for ISPs – Enables latency sensitive services (e.g. VOIP)
- Saves money– Lower cost to end users and/or more profit
- Gives ISPs and content providers more control. This gives better services to end users by lowering dependency on things they can’t control
Key members of LINX
Members of LINX include the telecommunication, IT, finance, government, gaming and education industries. Among them:
• 65 of the top 100 global networks
• Almost all UK ISPs
Content providers
BBC, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo!…
Content Delivery
Akamai, BitGravity, Edgecast, Limelight, …
Many of the largest access networks
AboveNet, DT, Level3, NTT, Telefonica, XO, …
Education and Research
Eduserve, JANET, NORDUnet, TENET
“The partnership between Telehouse and LINX has driven innovation and progress in the UK and worldwide over the past 20 years. The construction of North Two will further drive the industry to reach new heights and allow businesses to grow exponentially.”
Hiroyuki Soshi, Managing Director of Telehouse Europe