DE-CIX (Deutsche Commercial Internet Exchange) is an operator of carrier- and data-center-neutral Internet Exchanges, with operations in Europe, North America, Africa, the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia. All DE-CIX activities and companies are brought together under the umbrella of the DE-CIX Group AG.[4]
The DE-CIX internet exchange point (IXP) situated in Frankfurt, Germany,[5] is one of the largest IXPs worldwide in terms of peak traffic, with throughput of 17.09 Tbit/s in April 2024.[6][7][8] In addition to DE-CIX in Frankfurt, DE-CIX operates IXPs in approx. 40 locations around the globe, with 3 further IXs exchanging peak traffic in excess of 1Tbit/s, these being DE-CIX New York, DE-CIX Madrid, and DE-CIX Mumbai,[9] [JP2] with DE-CIX Mumbai becoming the largest IXP in the APAC according to PeeringDB in 2021 [JE3].
The DE-CIX global IXs (including presence in partner IXs) include:
Ivo Ivanov (CEO), Thomas King (CTO), Christian Reuter (CSO) and Sebastian Seifert (CFO) are responsible for the global business as the Management Board.[12] Felix Höger, Klaus Landefeld, Rudolf van Megen and Harald A. Summa represent the Supervisory Board of DE-CIX Group AG. In addition, Harald A. Summa was the Managing Director of DE-CIX Group AG from 1996 to 2022 and Chair of the Management Board from 2017 to 2022.
History
DE-CIX was founded in 1995 by three Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Back then, German Internet traffic was still exchanged in the United States. To improve latency and reduce costs for backhaul connectivity, three providers decided to establish an Internet Exchange in the back room of a postal office in Gutleutviertel in Frankfurt. Hamburg-based MAZ, EUnet from Dortmund and XLink from Karlsruhe were the first to connect their networks in Frankfurt at DE-CIX.
DE-CIX was originally managed by Electronic Commerce Forum, now known as eco – Association of the Internet Industry. Other providers joined and made DE-CIX and Frankfurt the hotspot for the German internet. In 1998, DE-CIX moved its switching hardware to the Interxion data center in Frankfurt.
By 2000, DE-CIX had become Germany's largest Internet Exchange and was ranked as one of the larger Internet Exchanges in Europe. DE-CIX added its second switching site at the Interxion campus in 2001[13] and a third site in close proximity to its original roots at the TelecityGroup data center in 2004.
Until 2006, Cisco switches supported the growth in customers and traffic. DE-CIX extended its reach to additional data centers, introducing Force10 and Brocade switches and scaling the platform to over 700 10-Gigabit ports. Over the years, DE-CIX has attracted networks from all over the world, especially from Eastern Europe, leading to an annual traffic growth rate of up to 100 percent per year.
In 2012, DE-CIX began its international expansion with the establishment of its first IX outside of Germany, UAE-IX powered by DE-CIX, together with partner du/datamena, in Dubai.[14] Following this, in 2014, DE-CIX established its first IX in North America with the launch of DE-CIX New York.[15] Further expansions followed in close succession, in Southern Europe in 2016,[16] in India in 2018 in India with Mumbai-IX powered by DE-CIX,[17] later to become DE-CIX Mumbai, and in 2021 in Southeast Asia.[18]
Current
In September 2022, more than 3,000 network operators (carriers), Internet service providers (ISPs), content providers, corporate networks and other organizations from more than 100 countries were connected to DE-CIX, including major carriers, content and Internet service providers, and numerous enterprise customers. The company operates approx. 40 IXs on 4 continents,[19] and its interconnection services are accessible from data centers in 600+ cities worldwide.
In September 2022, a data throughput of 13.65 terabits per second[20] was achieved at DE-CIX Frankfurt for the first time. According to its Annual Report 2021, DE-CIX had a connected customer capacity of over 96.2Tbit/s at the end of 2021.[21]
The IX operator experienced massive growth during the Covid-19 pandemic, regularly breaking traffic throughput records.[22] DE-CIX Frankfurt, for example, exceeded 9tbit/s peak traffic for the first time in March 2020, and 10tbit/s in November of the same year.[23]
In 2013, DE-CIX introduced DE-CIX Apollon, its new Ethernet-based platform. Today, the platform utilizes the ADVA Optical Networking FSP 3000 and Infinera CloudExpress 2 gear for the optical backbone, and Nokia’s 7950 XRS series and Nokia’s 7750 SR-s series for the IP network. The optical backbone has a total capacity of 48 Terabits per second across a mesh-network topology and provides transport speeds of up to 8 Terabits per second per fiber.[24] DE-CIX Apollon utilizes DWDM equipment and is built on a switching layer supported by Nokia (former Alcatel-Lucent) service routers, which support up to 1440x100 Gigabit Ethernet ports or up to 288x400 Gigabit Ethernet ports.
In 2017, DE-CIX began to develop interconnection services for the enterprise sector, beginning with the introduction of DirectCLOUD, a service that enables customers to access cloud service providers. In 2022, the DirectCLOUD service enables connectivity to more than 50 cloud service providers, including specialized local CSPs and global hyperscalers.[25] Other interconnection services specifically designed for the needs of enterprises include: the Microsoft Azure Peering Service,[26] Closed User Groups,[27] and InterconnectionFLEX.
In 2019, DE-CIX was one of 3 IX operators to jointly develop the IX-API, which provides the basis for the automation of interconnection services over IXPs.[28] In 2021, DE-CIX received a patent for its security service “Blackholing Advanced”, which enables innovative filtering mechanisms in the protection of networks against DDoS attacks.[29]
A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a computer network that interconnects users with computer resources in a geographic region of the size of a metropolitan area. The term MAN is applied to the interconnection of local area networks (LANs) in a city into a single larger network which may then also offer efficient connection to a wide area network. The term is also used to describe the interconnection of several LANs in a metropolitan area through the use of point-to-point connections between them.
In computer networking, peering is a voluntary interconnection of administratively separate Internet networks for the purpose of exchanging traffic between the "down-stream" users of each network. Peering is settlement-free, also known as "bill-and-keep" or "sender keeps all", meaning that neither party pays the other in association with the exchange of traffic; instead, each derives and retains revenue from its own customers.
The London Internet Exchange (LINX) is a mutually governed Internet exchange point (IXP) providing peering services and public policy representation to network operators, encompassing over 950 different autonomous systems (ASNs). Established in 1994 in London, LINX operates IXPs in London, Manchester, Scotland, and Wales in the United Kingdom, as well as in Northern Virginia, United States.
Internet exchange points are common grounds of IP networking, allowing participant Internet service providers (ISPs) to exchange data destined for their respective networks. IXPs are generally located at places with preexisting connections to multiple distinct networks, i.e., datacenters, and operate physical infrastructure (switches) to connect their participants. Organizationally, most IXPs are each independent not-for-profit associations of their constituent participating networks. The primary alternative to IXPs is private peering, where ISPs directly connect their networks to each other.
The Commercial Internet eXchange (CIX) was an early interexchange point that allowed the free exchange of TCP/IP traffic, including commercial traffic, between ISPs. It was an important initial effort toward creating the commercial Internet that we know today.
Giganews, Inc is a Usenet/newsgroup service provider. Founded in 1994, Giganews service is available to individual users through a subscription model and as an outsourced service to internet service providers. Well-known ISPs that have outsourced Usenet access to Giganews include RCN Corporation, BT, WOW!, and Kingston Communications.
IX.br is the Internet exchange point system of Brazil. It is a project of the government agency Comitê Gestor da Internet no Brasil, and operates as a non-profit funded by NIC.br.
IPTP Networks is an international telecommunications company. Founded in Cyprus as a System Integrator in 1996, it developed into an international group over the next decade. IPTP Networks operates a global backbone as a Tier-1-class-network Internet Service Provider (ISP) providing connectivity through 225+ PoPs worldwide.
Hurricane Electric is a global Internet service provider offering Internet transit, tools, and network applications, as well as data center colocation and hosting services at one location in San Jose, California and two locations in Fremont, California, where the company is based.
Transworld Associates is a Tier-1 provider based in Pakistan serving as a backbone for IP connectivity in Pakistan. It is a joint-venture between Orastar Limited and the Oman based OMZEST Group. Transworld owns and operates the 1,300 km submarine communications cable named TW1 that links Pakistan to the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Interxion is a provider of carrier and cloud-neutral colocation data centre services in Europe. Founded in 1998 in the Netherlands, the firm was publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange from 28 January 2011 until its acquisition by Digital Realty in March 2020.
PeeringDB is a freely available, user-maintained, database of networks, and the go-to location for interconnection data. The database facilitates the global interconnection of networks at Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), data centers, and other interconnection facilities, and is the first stop in making interconnection decisions.
UAE-IX is a carrier- and data center-neutral internet exchange point (IXP) situated in Dubai (UAE). It interconnects global networks, network operators and content providers in the GCC region. Founded in 2012, UAE-IX is built on a fully redundant switching platform located in two data centers in Dubai, Datamena and Equinix. Initiated by the UAE’s Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) and fully managed by DE-CIX, UAE-IX delivers a local alternative for regional traffic exchange, localizing Internet content.
DE-CIX New York is a carrier and data center-neutral internet exchange point in the New York/New Jersey metro owned and operated by DE-CIX North America Inc.
France-IX is a Paris-based Internet exchange point (IXP) founded in June 2010 as a membership organisation. As of 21 July 2021 it interconnects more than 496 members, making it the largest IXP in France.
Mumbai Internet Exchange is a subsidiary of the German Internet exchange point (IXP) DE-CIX, founded on 15 August 2014 as Mumbai Convergence Hub as an Open Carrier Neutral Internet Exchange & Peering Hub. As of 30 March 2021 it interconnects more than 375 members, making it the largest IXP in India and surrounding region.
The Internet Exchange Point Of Nigeria (IXPN) is a neutral and not-for-profit Internet exchange point (IXP) founded in 2006 by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in partnership with the Internet Service Providers Association Of Nigeria (ISPAN). Among other things, IXPN was created to reduce connectivity costs in millions of dollars in offshore internet bandwidth payments, reduce latency from 900 milliseconds to 30 milliseconds for local content, serve as the central point for connecting Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) towards the development of National Research and Educational Network (NREN). As at April 2022, IXPN is the 5th largest IXP in Africa by number of peers, and 3rd in Africa by traffic according to Packet Clearing House’s IXP directory
eco – Verband der Internetwirtschaft e.V is the German Internet trade association and advocacy group.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Germany 
