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The importance of voting

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:23:00 +0200

Members of the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) Association can influence the direction, strategy and operations of the AMS-IX Company. A business network connecting to AMS-IX is not only a customer of the AMS-IX Company it also has the possibility of becoming a member of the Amsterdam Internet Exchange Association*. Twice a year, during the General Meeting (GM), these members have the opportunity to help steer the Company.

Unfortunately, only a small percentage of the members have taken part in the voting process of the AMS-IX Association since its foundation in 1997. Even the introduction of an online voting facility in 2005 has not changed that.

AMS-IX aims to be open and neutral, and its direction should represent the requirements of the members. Therefore it is important that more members take part in the voting process. By doing so AMS-IX will become even more a reflection of its members’ wishes. By proposing an amendment to the voting process, AMS-IX hopes 2012 will be the year we can make this happen. We value the trust members put in the Company and the Board, however their input counts and should be heard.

Background of the organization

The AMS-IX Association and the limited corporation AMS-IX B.V. are the only official legal entities of AMS-IX. Both entities are required to have two formal meetings per year with their stakeholders, namely the General Assembly Meeting of the Association and the Shareholders Meeting of the Corporation. To keep things straightforward AMS-IX combines those meetings into one GM.

Just as the two stakeholder meetings are combined, so are the Executive Board of the Association and the Supervisory Board of the Corporation; they consist of the same elected people and are simply called “the Board”. The management of the Corporation reports to the Board on a quarterly basis. The board reports to the assembly/shareholders twice a year in the GM.

The Board holds 5 seats, and officials are elected from representatives of the member association. Therefore it is important that the Board is a well-balanced representation of this association.

How to participate

Members are not required to be physically present at the formal meetings in order to follow presentations and discussions, or to vote. For those members who want to participate from a distance, AMS-IX provides different facilities during the meetings: live broadcasting over the Internet by video (webcast), a chat channel for asking real-time questions and an online voting facility.

Board elections are one of the recurring topics on which members can vote during the formal meetings. Another topic is the Long Term Commercial Strategy (LTCS), which describes the company’s plans for the direction of business. By open discussions, feedback and ultimately agreeing to this document, the members exercise control regarding the business course of AMS-IX.

Besides having a say on recurring agenda topics, members also get the opportunity to vote for the development and offering of new services. This happened in 2010, for example, regarding the offering of Inter-IPX and SLA services.

What will change?

The organizational model of AMS-IX, which includes the opportunity for members to influence the Company, is copied throughout the world by new and existing Internet Exchanges, and even by similar not-for-profit organizations in other industries. In order to make the model more effective during the formal meetings, AMS-IX will extend the voting window. Currently members only have the opportunity to vote (in person or electronically) during the formal meetings, which only last a few hours. AMS-IX wants to extend this period and gives its members the chance to vote electronically for a longer period. We will first test this at the GM in May 2012 by keeping e-voting open for 24 hours. Thus, time will be less of an issue for connected parties from other time zones. Evaluation of the impact of the change will follow afterwards.

In addition to extending the voting window, AMS-IX will also propose an amendment to give more than one individual in a member organization the ability to vote. Currently only the Contractual Contact Person (CCP), a signatory of the member company, can vote. When he does not have this opportunity he can assign his voting rights to a colleague by filling in a proxy form that has to be signed in person. However, in the course of the AMS-IX history we learned that this is often not done. The process seems too complex. The result is that the person who actually attends the meetings, whether physical or online, often does not have the right to vote. With the proposed amendment AMS-IX aims to increase the number of voters at the meetings. It says that anyone registered as a contact person in the AMS-IX portal can vote for his or her organization. If two or more employees of one organization are present at the meetings, only the employee that is registered highest in ranking can vote. Since each member only has one vote.

The formal meetings are the only way for members to influence the direction and strategy of AMS-IX, and confirm the trust, openness, neutrality and values of the Amsterdam Internet Exchange. By voting you help ensure that the organizational model of AMS-IX stays relevant and efficient.

*This does not apply for parties connected via the indirect sales channel

Major infrastructure expansion AMS-IX in 2012

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:06:00 +0200

For AMS-IX this year is all about infrastructure expansion. It adds no less than four new Points of Presence (PoP) to its technical platform in Amsterdam, bringing the total number of colocations onto 12. Never before in history AMS-IX installed this many new access locations in one year. AMS-IX responds with this expansion to the continuous growth of Internet traffic. In 2011 the total traffic that passed the exchange increased with 32 percent.

The growth of Internet traffic is among other factors driven by the position of Amsterdam as a global connectivity hub, just like Rotterdam is an important hub for the transport industry and London for the financial market. Because of this central position the Dutch capital attracts more and more technology, telecoms and media companies, which at the same time means an increase in use of data processing capacity. Moreover, this so-called ‘hub-effect’ also results in a record capacity take-up of datacenter space in Amsterdam (source: the European Data Centres report of CBRE, 2011).

Another factor is the growth of mobile data roaming traffic. Henk Steenman, CTO of AMS-IX, explains: “More people use smartphones and tablets in their daily lives. Experts of Cisco say that by the end of 2012, there are more mobile-connected devices than the number of people on earth. Already the exchange of traffic that passed the GRX roaming service at AMS-IX increased with 50 percent in the first quarter of 2012. In the future we expect this growth to accelerate.”(source: Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI), 2012)

Finally, the increase in video traffic is an important factor. According to Cisco’s VNI forecast, video will exceed half of Western Europe’s consumer Internet traffic by the end of 2013. Steenman: “New legal video content providers as HBO in the Netherlands and Netflix in the United Kingdom and Ireland play an important part in this growth. It is expected that more of these providers will follow soon.”

The four sites AMS-IX chose for the expansion of its infrastructure are TelecityGroup’s AMS5, EvoSwitch, Equinix AM3 and Terremark. In the new datacenter of TelecityGroup, AMS-IX is in the process of adding a new sub-core PoP to manage the flow of traffic between its sites in the infrastructure dense Amsterdam-Southeast area and ease the pressure on the existing core sites. Another popular location for Internet companies is the Amsterdam Science Park. Because Equinix AM3 will be located here it is a logical choice for AMS-IX to use this datacenter as one of its new expansion points.

EvoSwitch and Terremark are new names in the list of AMS-IX’ colocations. Both companies already have a good reputation as innovative leaders. EvoSwitch is a front-runner with environmental friendly IT solutions and Terremark with cloud and information security. Steenman points out: “Each datacenter has its own particular focus. Therefore AMS-IX will have an even greater diversity of colocations for customers to choose from.” Besides being a colocation EvoSwitch will also be the first location for which AMS-IX uses a single 100GE backbone connection.

Due to the large increase in access locations AMS-IX will have sufficient space to expand the coming years. Therefore a new PoP will not be rolled out any time soon.

Light Reading interviews CTO Henk Steenman about the 100GE services take up

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:19:00 +0200

At Light Reading's Ethernet Europe 2012 editor Ray Le Maistre interviewed Henk Steenman about AMS-IX' 100GE services take up. Ethernet Europe 2012 is the premier event covering the hot topic of Carrier Ethernet network technologies and services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

To watch the interview go to http://www.lightreading.com/video.asp?doc_id=220025

Positive impact of IXPs in emerging markets is shown again

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:59:00 +0200

Following results earlier this year of an improved Internet performance in the Caribbean due to the establishment of the Caribbean Internet Exchange (CAR-IX), a new study of the Internet Society (ISOC) shows how Internet Exchange Points (IPXs) improve the Internet ecosystem in emerging markets. In this case, the study focuses on Kenya and Nigeria. The establishment of an IXP in the country enables local ISPs to connect directly together and exchange domestic traffic, typically with settlement-free peering, thereby saving cost on international transit while reducing latency.

To help the development of the Internet ecosystem in the African region AMS-IX and the Kenya Internet Exchange Point (KIXP) collaborate since August 2011. The collaboration includes the donation of AMS-IX Gigabit Ethernet Equipment to Kenya. Moreover, AMS-IX supports the ISOC IXP development program.

To read more about the benefits IXPs in Kenya and Nigeria go to http://internetsociety.org/ixpimpact

AMS-IX is looking for a Network Engineer

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:34:00 +0200

We are currently looking for a Network Engineer.

As an AMS-IX Network Engineer you will be part of a team of engineers who work closely together on the day to day operations of the Ethernet switching platform, designing and implementing solutions for new services, platform extensions and upgrades. After the initial trial period you will participate in the 24/7 NOC service. Currently the AMS-IX NOC offers full operational support during Amsterdam and Hong Kong office hours and standby support for emergencies only outside these hours. With the expansion of services to other timezones and the increasing amount of customers from all over the world AMS-IX Amsterdam will soon be expanding the service hours of the NOC to full 24 hours.

See for more information Working at AMS-IX

Audits of AMS-IX’ co-locations leads to new and renewed certifications

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:42:00 +0100

Capitoline, the leading independent specialist data centre auditor, and Internet Exchange AMS-IX have renewed the certifications for most of its data centres for the next two years. The audits of the data centres took place according to AMS-IX’ updated Data Centre Standard.

Again certifications are assigned to Telecity, Global Switch, Equinix, EvoSwitch and Interxion. Only Terremark received its certification for the first time. SARA and Nikhef data centres were certified in the end of 2010. They will be re-audited as part of an ongoing program intended to ensure the quality of the technical infrastructure as well the operational documentation and processes, and thus continuity of service.

The Capitoline/AMS‐IX audit standard includes all the relevant requirements of many standards including TIA 942 and ISO 27000. Also the best practice data centre operational management is checked. In this way Capitoline and AMS-IX build up the most useful data centre business continuity standard and audit tool available today.

Job Witterman, CEO at AMS-IX, says: “Because of the continuing dependency on Internet connectivity of businesses and individuals we need to secure continuous availability of service. The regular auditing of our data centre hosts ensures that they have the infrastructure and operational processes to support the continuity of our carrier grade peering services to the connected parties. Since the start of this audit program we have not suffered an outage due to a data centre failure. ”

Matt Flowerday, Partner at Capitoline LLP, says: “Many customers of co-location data centres choose their hosting site purely on cost, cursory review of the site and the specifications provided in marketing materials. From our experience we know that a true understanding of the resilience provided by a co-location data centre is only realised through an in-depth audit of both the technical infrastructure and the operational procedures. The AMS-IX standard and audit process does exactly that.”

AMS-IX chooses TelecityGroup’s AMS5 as core Point of Presence site

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:45:00 +0100

TelecityGroup, Europe's industry-leading provider of premium carrier-neutral data centres, and Internet Exchange AMS-IX today announced that AMS-IX has chosen AMS5 in Amsterdam-Southeast, the new TelecityGroup data centre, as the site for a new core Point-of-Presence. AMS-IX is adding a core Point-of-Presence (PoP) to its Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) as part of its expansion commitment.

The new TelecityGroup data centre was a logical choice for AMS-IX because Amsterdam-Southeast forms a hub in the AMS-IX network. A core-PoP in this area will enable AMS-IX to optimise the flow of local traffic between the busy AMS-IX sites in this part of the city and ease the pressure on the existing core sites.

Alexandra Schless, Managing Director of TelecityGroup Nederland comments: “The implementation of a core-PoP in our new AMS 5 data centre underscores the unrivalled connectivity offered in Amsterdam-Southeast and confirms that TelecityGroup is the premium quality data centre partner for AMS-IX.”

Henk Steenman, CTO of AMS-IX comments: “AMS-IX and TelecityGroup have been collaborating successfully for years. Our decision to place a core-PoP at the new TelecityGroup AMS5 data centre will secure a reliable data centre for us in the connectivity hub of Amsterdam Zuidoost so that we can continue to facilitate the burgeoning growth of internet traffic now and in the future.”

VTLWaveNet brings AMS-IX connectivity to 100 points of presence in Europe

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:19:00 +0100

VTLWaveNet announced that it has successfully brought AMS-IX connectivity to its 100th point of presence in Europe. By bringing up to 1.6TB of capacity into its latest site in Paris, VTLWaveNet helps parties to connect to the AMS-IX without needing a physical presence in Amsterdam. VTLWaveNet became an AMS-IX partner in 2011, enabling the company to help ISP's throughout Europe to connect to AMS-IX and boost their peering possibilities.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) such as AMS-IX form an essential part of the global internet infrastructure, enabling the large-scale switching of internet traffic between networks. Interconnecting over 470 carriers, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other internet-related companies, AMS-IX is one of the world’s largest IXPs, providing unique peering possibilities across Europe.

Since becoming an AMS-IX partner, VTLWaveNet has successfully connected 100 points of presence to the Amsterdam Internet Exchange allowing customers to enjoy the benefits of direct connectivity to one of the world’s largest Internet Exchanges.The company’s DWDM network provides customers with a range of networking services and has enabled it to build a worthy reputation with solid experience in the interconnection market.

Lucy Woods, CEO at VTLWaveNet states “We are always looking for ways to improve upon our network and add value for our customers. With the availability of so many access points to AMS-IX we feel this gives our customers a significant value-add.”

"We have been very pleased with the success of our partner program which is, for a large part, due to the efforts of our partners like VTLWaveNet,” said Job Witteman, CEO at AMS-IX. “VTLWaveNet as an AMS-IX partner brings its own unique profile and the addition of its 100th POP ensures a high density of presence making it easier for parties, from anywhere in Europe, to connect to the Amsterdam Internet Exchange".

AMS-IX to launch point-of-presence at TelecityGroup´s new Amsterdam data centre

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:12:00 +0100

World’s largest Internet hub AMS-IX and TelecityGroup cement relationship in new data centre location.

TelecityGroup, the leading provider of premium carrier-neutral data centres, and Internet Exchange AMS-IX today announced that an AMS-IX point-of-presence will be built in TelecityGroup’s new Amsterdam data centre, AMS 5. The extension of the partnership between TelecityGroup and AMS-IX into the new facility will enable both parties to continue to provide the highest levels of connectivity and peering options to organisations colocating in the Netherlands.

Growth in demand for high quality, connected data centre services in Amsterdam continues to be driven by the city’s position as a global connectivity hub. This so-called ‘hub effect’ is driving national and global technology, telecoms and media companies to choose Amsterdam as a strategic location for their data centre. In response to this growing demand for connectivity options and capacity, TelecityGroup is constructing AMS 5, a new 9 megawatt, 6000m2 data centre in the Amsterdam Southeast area. AMS-IX will be offering its peering services from AMS 5 from its opening.

Alexandra Schless, Managing Director TelecityGroup Netherlands, says:
“TelecityGroup is very pleased that AMS-IX will have a point-of-presence in AMS 5, offering our customers vital peering opportunities, as well as premium colocation capacity to AMS-IX members. AMS-IX is one of the world's largest Internet exchanges and, together with TelecityGroup’s choice of network providers, provides the ideal environment for companies to ensure they have the best possible international connectivity options both in the Netherlands and Europe.”

Henk Steenman, CTO at AMS-IX:, says
“We have been working with TelecityGroup since 2000 and they are a proven and reliable provider of carrier-neutral data centres. With the continuing growth in Internet traffic and the increasing importance of Internet availability, we know we can rely on TelecityGroup to support our expansion. We are confident that the combination of the newest prime TelecityGroup location AMS 5, and AMS-IX's extensive presence, will contribute to the continued success of our existing partnership.”

AMS-IX Hong Kong popular news topic in Asia

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:12:00 +0100

Following the launch of AMS-IX Hong Kong yesterday by AMS-IX and Hutchison Global Communications (HGC) many news media in Asia wrote about the new Internet Exchange. Among them were the Oriental Daily News and the Hong Kong Economic Journal. To get a more detailed picture about the news check: https://www.ams-ix.net/assets/News-and-presentations/20120224-Overview-Asian-clippings.pdf

Telecom Asia: AMS-IX set up Internet Exchange in Hong Kong

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 08:29:00 +0100

Telecom Asia, the leading online source for telecom companies and professionals across Asia, published an article about AMS-IX Hong Kong. To read the article go to: http://www.telecomasia.net/content/hgc-ams-ix-set-internet-exchange-hk

Launch of World-Class Internet Peering Platform “AMS-IX Hong Kong”

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:33:00 +0100

Hutchison Global Communications Limited (HGC) and Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) today announced the launch of AMS-IX Hong Kong service, a professional Internet Exchange in Hong Kong, to boost regional Internet traffic and develop Hong Kong into a major Internet Exchange hub in the region. The new Internet Exchange builds on the formula of AMS-IX in Europe, which has grown into the largest group of interconnected IP networks in the world. This new collaboration will allow users in Asia to access extensive Internet networks via a single platform, while users of AMS-IX in Europe can extend their capacity in the Asia Pacific region.

AMS-IX Hong Kong: a carrier-grade internet peering platform in Asia
AMS-IX Hong Kong is the first Internet Exchange platform in Asia between an Asia-based carrier and a Europe-based exchange, with HGC becoming an exclusive worldwide sales and marketing arm for AMS-IX Hong Kong service. Backed by HGC’s extensive fibre-optic network, world-class data centres, and highly meshed international network, customers will be able to connect with the platform via dedicated ports with speeds of 1Gbps to multiple 1Gbps or 10Gbps. AMS-IX Hong Kong will serve as a neutral and independent peering platform with unrivalled quality of both private and public peering services at carrier-grade level to Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Internet Content Providers (ICPs) and telecoms operators from all over Asia Pacific, providing better performance by reducing latency and packet loss. This exchange also caters for various future IP interconnection services among operators and customers.

“We are excited about the collaboration with Amsterdam Internet Exchange and delighted that AMS-IX has selected Hong Kong as their expansion base and HGC as their partner in Asia,” said Andrew Kwok, President of International Business, HGC. “HGC is the first Asian carrier to collaborate with AMS-IX by introducing a successful and well-established Internet Exchange model to the market. The AMS-IX Hong Kong service will be riding on Blue City service platform, a neutral interconnection platform invested by HGC. We are confident that this new Internet Exchange platform will help promote efficient bi-lateral and public peering in the Asia Pacific region, and further enhance Hong Kong’s position as a major exchange hub.”

Job Witteman, CEO of AMS-IX, commented: “Hong Kong is an amazing hub for the financial, logistics and telecoms industries in the ever growing Asian market.” Witteman added: “The AMS-IX collaboration with HGC not only connects these two cities, improving the internet ecosystem, but underlines the historical significance of bringing the trading continents even closer in today’s era of virtual travel and trade. In HGC, we have found a partner that understands the way we think in the international context. Their professionalism, high service orientation and focus on trade match ours perfectly.”

Optimising Internet performance
AMS-IX Hong Kong will enable resourceful and direct Internet traffic exchange with fewer network hops reducing costs on IP transit and increasing routing resilience. It will also optimise Internet performance while securing better and more reliable network quality for end-users. Customers are also able to benefit from the multiple virtual links to numerous adjacent partners for bi-lateral peering.

Connecting to over 470 networks worldwide instantly through new platform
Amsterdam and Hong Kong are cities with similar traits, both relatively small geographically, traditionally very focused on international trade, sea and air logistics and both having open economies. This collaboration shows that both economies also count for the virtual trade and logistics. Through AMS-IX Hong Kong service, users in Asia can connect to more than 470 international networks, including a generous base of multinational members worldwide. In addition, AMS-IX Hong Kong enables Internet, mobile, telecoms and content providers already connected with AMS-IX Amsterdam to have direct access to Asian networks.

Internetsnelheid en bandbreedte Curaçao sterk verbeterd dankzij CAR-IX en AMS-IX

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:07:00 +0100

De Internet performance op Curaçao is in 2010 en 2011 sterk verbeterd, mede dankzij de introductie van de Caribbean Internet Exchange (CAR-IX). CAR-IX is gemodelleerd naar de Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) en in maart 2009 door het Nederlandse Internetknooppunt uitgerold met financiële steun van het Bureau Telecommunicatie & Post van de Nederlandse Antillen. In 2012 zet CAR-IX in op lokale peering, verdere groei van het aantal netwerken en verdere verhoging van de Internetsnelheid.

De Internetmarkt op Curaçao heeft de laatste jaren grote stappen gezet. Zo is de markt geliberaliseerd, is het aantal concurrerende partijen snel gestegen en zijn de internationale bandbreedtetarieven voor de verbinding met Miami verlaagd. De introductie van CAR-IX heeft eveneens een stevige impuls gegeven aan de Internetmarkt, niet alleen op Curaçao maar in de gehele regio.

AMS-IX is verantwoordelijk voor het ontwerp van het technische exchange-platform van CAR-IX en het technische team van AMS-IX verzorgt het beheer van CAR-IX, in samenwerking met lokale technici. De bestuursopzet van CAR-IX, met een vereniging en een BV, is een exacte kopie van de structuur van AMS-IX.

“We hebben met CAR-IX een behoorlijke stap gezet in 2010 en 2011. De performance van het Internet is sterk verbeterd en het aantal aangesloten netwerken is gegroeid”, zegt Nico Scheper, directeur van CAR-IX. “Voor 2012 blijft er echter nog voldoende te wensen over. Zo willen we graag aan de slag met lokale peering, meer netwerken aantrekken op CAR-IX en op meer glasvezelkabels vanuit Curaçao naar de rest van de regio aansluiten, om de verbindingen en snelheden verder te verbeteren.” Net zoals in 2011 zal de Stichting Ontwikkeling Projecten Logistieke Sector, CAR-IX ook in 2012 financieel ondersteunen in haar internationale promotieactiviteiten.

“Het is goed om te zien dat CAR-IX zo’n grote progressie heeft gemaakt. We hopen dat we deze lijn in de komende jaren kunnen doortrekken, zodat CAR-IX een steeds belangrijker rol voor het hele Caribische gebied kan vervullen”, zegt Job Witteman, CEO van AMS-IX. “Dit succes laat zien wat een Internet exchange voor een regio kan betekenen. Het is erg mooi dat we met ons model bedrijven en organisaties in andere regio’s kunnen ontsluiten.”

Internet giant beneath the streets of Amsterdam

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:27:00 +0100

The biggest internet network in Europe can be found beneath the city of Amsterdam. The Amsterdam Internet Exchange – AMS-IX for short – can even lay claim to being the most popular internet hub in the world, in terms of the number of companies linked up to it. Microsoft, KPN, Google and Facebook are among its customers. The secrets of its success are independence and innovation.

Around 475 companies, half of them from outside the Netherlands, have already found the hub. The volume of data traffic it handles is exceeded only by its rival in Frankfurt.

For the first time at the end of last year, Amsterdam broke through the barrier of 300,000 terabytes of incoming and outgoing internet traffic, reaching a peak of 1.5 TB per second. Streaming video is primarily responsible for this spectacular growth.

Updates
The main users of the Amsterdam hub are companies that need to send vast amounts of information. For instance, it’s how software giant Microsoft supplies hundreds of millions of customers with monthly updates. Several factors contribute to the success, explains AMS-IX Director Job Witteman. The network was quick to seek out international partners. Meanwhile, the opening up of the European market in 2000 made it possible to operate independently of the government or existing telecom companies.

But most importantly the network is set up as an association, guaranteeing data neutrality. Right from the very foundation in 1997, Witteman points out, that was the guiding principle.

“KPN offered to help set up the exchange and even to provide space for data traffic. Our answer was ‘Thanks, but no thanks’. That was a pitfall we were determined to avoid. We wanted to do things differently and make a genuinely neutral and independent start. We’ve succeeded. And it was the right move to make.”

Whims
The network had no intention of copying the US-based market leaders at the time, whose customers were at the mercy of the owners' whims. As an association, Amsterdam gave the participating companies a say in how the network was run. This formula has turned out to be so successful that other internet hubs – established and new – have followed suit. US companies now visit the Netherlands to see how things are done.

Strictly speaking, the differences between a commercial company and this association are limited. AMS-IX also has to make a profit (albeit a modest one) to guarantee continuity. Yet on paper the AMS-IX method seems to make a big difference in the eyes of potential customers, who value its neutrality and the fact that members determine the future.

Surveillance
Neutrality does not mean that AMS-IX is above the law. Witteman insists he has never been ordered to cut off a customer, but reveals that governments do sometimes come asking for surveillance.

“Yes, that happens regularly and we always show them the door. The Exchange is not the right place for that kind of thing. We have no direct links with end users. If you want to catch a bad guy, you don’t intercept him at a crossroads, you go to his front door. Especially when you know exactly where he lives. The situation on the internet is just as simple. We don’t play cops and robbers.”

It’s a policy AMS-IX plans to stick to, even if national security legislation or anti-piracy laws change. Witteman accepts that illegal content is bound to pass through the network at some point, but makes it clear that AMS-IX never looks at the content of its data traffic. That would immediately damage the network’s reputation.

Fastest connections
Being the one of the biggest in the world is one thing; maintaining that position is another. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was complimented on AMS-IX. But he was also given a warning: make sure you don’t lose the advantage. How does AMS-IX plan to stay ahead of the game?

Unsurprisingly perhaps, the answer is constant innovation and responding to new demand: internet phone services (VoIP) and the growth of mobile internet. But it also means working with others to achieve the fastest connections. The Prime Minister might have given the same answers about the city of Amsterdam.

“We take an active approach to increasing our speed. We’re the first Internet Exchange in the world to offer 100 Gigabit per second, and we already have takers. But we also played an active role in standardising this process. That makes us unique, a fact our customers recognise.”

There’s another key factor that makes AMS-IX stand out from the crowd. It’s the first network hub to offer Service Level Agreements (SLAs): if the data traffic does not flow without problems, AMS-IX agrees to pay a fine. It’s a step the competition hasn’t yet dared to take.

TelecityGroup, IX Reach and AMS-IX enable direct UK connectivity to the Amsterdam Internet Exchange

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:23:00 +0100

TelecityGroup, Europe's industry-leading provider of premium carrier-neutral data centres, has today announced an agreement with IX Reach and AMS-IX to enable TelecityGroup customers in the UK to directly connect to the Amsterdam Internet Exchange, AMS-IX, in the only official AMS-IX enabled sites in the UK.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) such as AMS-IX form an essential part of the global Internet infrastructure, enabling the large-scale switching of Internet traffic between networks. Interconnecting over 470 carriers, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other Internet-related companies, AMS-IX is one of the world’s largest IXPs, providing unique peering possibilities across Europe and beyond.

All of TelecityGroup’s carrier-neutral data centres in London Docklands and Manchester, in addition to its London Powergate facility, are now ‘AMS-IX enabled’. They are the only UK data centres to have this capability, enabling TelecityGroup UK customers to immediately enjoy the benefits of direct connectivity into AMS-IX.

All of the AMS-IX connections that are originated through this new service will terminate in the largest AMS-IX node which is located in TelecityGroup’s Amsterdam South-East facility, which itself is adjacent and directly-connected to TelecityGroup’s new Amsterdam 5 data centre, due to open in 2012.

By working with IX Reach, which specialises in simplifying connectivity to Internet Exchanges, TelecityGroup is ensuring that its customers can enjoy direct point-to-point Ethernet
connections into AMS-IX, using IX Reach’s pre-configured international capacity between the UK and Amsterdam.

Monica O’Meany, CEO of IX Reach comments: “We have been a partner of AMS-IX for many years and our core network enables us to provide dedicated, highly efficient connections
into AMS-IX. Such wide peering options can vastly reduce upstream costs for Internet-centric companies, and a single connection to an Internet Exchange like AMS-IX may reduce the reliance on multiple transit connections as well as improve end user reliability. We’re very pleased that by working with TelecityGroup and AMS-IX, so many companies in London and Manchester will now be able to enjoy these direct benefits.”

Job Witteman, AMS-IX CEO comments: “TelecityGroup and AMS-IX serve some of the world’s largest companies in the digital industry including ISPs, international carriers, mobile operators, content providers, TV broadcasters and many other related businesses in Amsterdam already. With remote connections into our exchange now available from London and Manchester through IX Reach, companies in the UK will be able to enjoy the vastly improved redundancy and network performance benefits that connecting to AMS-IX brings.”

Adriaan Oosthoek, Managing Director, TelecityGroup UK comments: “Our data centres are at the heart of the digital economy, and this agreement with IX Reach and AMS-IX means our customers will have even wider connectivity and peering options from our ‘AMS-IX enabled’ facilities. Whether they are Internet start-ups, content companies, cloud computing providers, or other companies looking to expand in Europe, this agreement will provide our customers with vastly enriched connectivity options across the continent. It is another reflection of our commitment to develop highly connected customer ecosystems in our sites and to lead the way in delivering new capacity and connectivity to meet customer growth requirements.”

Around Europe, TelecityGroup’s data centres host a number of key national IXPs, allowing competing networks to interconnect and exchange Internet traffic at national and international level with speed and efficiency at a significant reduction to transit costs. Alongside AMS-IX, these include three other top European IXPs: LINX in London, DE-CIX in Frankfurt and Netnod in Stockholm. TelecityGroup is also a patron of the European Internet Exchange Association (Euro-IX) which represents over 40 affiliated IXPs.

ABOUT TELECITYGROUP PLC
TelecityGroup is the leading provider of carrier-neutral data centres in Europe, operating highly connected facilities in key cities.

These data centres are the places in which separate networks that make up the Internet meet and where bandwidth-intensive applications, content and information is hosted. As such, they are the key network hubs, or enabling environments, of the European digital economy. TelecityGroup’s customers take advantage of the highly connected facilitiesto run, store, share, distribute and access digital media, IT applications and information
effectively and efficiently.

TelecityGroup has an unrivalled multi-year announced capacity expansion programme in
Europe. Capacity expansion is ongoing in all of the Group’s key markets. This provides its
growing customer base with visibility as to how their needs for capacity can be met into
the future. This is important to many of the Group’s customers as their needs for scalable
capacity are expected to grow due to macro trends, such as the emergence of cloud
computing, whereby an increasing amount of IT infrastructure is being migrated towards
centralised, highly connected data centres.

In addition to organic investments, TelecityGroup aims to make acquisitions within Europe,
either for the purpose of entering new markets, or to provide growth capacity in existing
markets where its data centres are fully occupied.

Telecity Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: TCY).

www.telecitygroup.com

Outstanding data centres.
Expertise you can trust.

For further press information, photography, or to request an interview, please contact:
Owen Waters
Nelson Bostock Communications +44 (0)20 7229 4400
telecitygroup@nelsonbostock.com

About IX Reach
IX Reach is a telecoms company that operates its own international network
reaching over 25 major cities across Europe and North America. IX Reach
specializes in creating bespoke solutions based on point-to-point and point-to-
multipoint connectivity with speeds ranging from 50Mbps up to multiple 10Gbps.
The IX Reach network offers a stable, reliable and flexible platform designed to
support customers such as Internet service providers, other carriers and businesses
needing to grow their network efficiently and quickly. Through its partnerships
with key Internet Exchanges, Datacentres and Cloud operators, IX Reach offers all
the benefits of one simple solution.

More information available on our website: http://www.ixreach.com
For more information about IX Reach please contact IX Reach marketing:
Tel: +44 845 013 0845
Email: marketing@ixreach.com

You can also like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/IXReach
or follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/IXReach.

Atrato takes the lead with 100GbE ports at AMS-IX

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:13:00 +0100

Atrato IP Networks has become the first AMS-IX (Amsterdam Internet Exchange) member with a 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) port connection.

In 2011, AMS-IX was the first Internet Exchange worldwide to roll out 100GbE ports, forecasting for traffic growth and higher demand for capacity. Today, Atrato takes the lead not only by becoming the first network with a 100GbE connection to an Internet Exchange anywhere in the world, but also as the first network to be able offer split capacity of 10Gbps (Gigabit per second) and 1Gbps to greater economies of scale.

100GE Business Case

Job Witteman CEO of AMS-IX explained: “We had networks adding multiple 10GbE ports at a time, and we understood that we needed to offer 100GbE capacity not just for the reduction of cost, but because it is easier to manage.”

AMS-IX chose networking vendor, Brocade (Nasdaq: BRCD), to deliver its 100GbE environment. Mr. Witteman added: “Atrato’s lead with 100GbE is not only a sign of their growth and success, but a clear effort to give their customers the best service and capacity available”.

100GE technology

AMS-IX deployed Brocade MLXe Series routers in order to deliver multi-terabit scalability and high port densities. By evolving this environment further and deploying Brocade’s 100 GbE module, AMS-IX benefitted from performance and scalability with 32 wire-speed 100 GbE ports in a single Brocade MLXe-32 router and 16 wire-speed 100 GbE ports in a single Brocade MLXe-32 router. Each two-port 100 GbE module delivers 400 Gbps of data throughput per module without compromising the performance of features. such as IPv4, IPv6 and MPLS. Atrato’s 100GbE Port now fits into AMS-IX’ platform, providing its customers individual 10Gbps, 1Gbps or even fraction capacity. Atrato’s entire network had already been built on the Brocade XMR series routers.

“As the amount of data consumed continues to soar, the pressure being placed on the Internet has never been so great,” stated Ken Cheng, Vice President of Service Provider Productsat Brocade. “Brocade service provider solutions have proven themselves by powering the largest IXPs and Service Providers in the world. With the introduction of 100 GbE density, Brocade continues to provide optimal solutions for customers, along with value-added services such as IPv6 and MPLS VPNs.

Over the last several years, Atrato has enjoyed tremendous growth in number of customers and size of its network. I n 2011, Atrato was recognized as AMS-IX most successful reselling partner. Aydin Yildiz CEO of Atrato IP Networks commented: “We are very excited about 100GbE and what it will mean to our network, to our customers and their respective end users.”

Mr. Yildiz added: “We have always put a lot of effort in the quality and support of our services, and with the network advantages 100GbE provides, our services and customer proposition has become even more competitive.”

About Atrato IP Networks

Atrato IP Networks is a leading provider of high quality IP transit, carrier services, remote peering and managed services. With a customer base comprising telcos, ISPs and hosting companies, Atrato develops its network to support these demanding, high traffic businesses well in advance of projected bandwidth growth.

Founded in 2005, the network was built avoiding limiting legacy technologies to ensure high performance, reliable and scalable services for customers. Atrato’s network covers all the major POPs in over 15 countries. Connected to more than 25 internet exchanges, the resiliency and low latency of the network is guaranteed.

For more information on Atrato IP Networks, please visit www.atrato-ip.com.

About AMS-IX
AMS-IX - Amsterdam Internet Exchange - is a neutral and independent Internet exchange based in Amsterdam-The Netherlands since the early 1990’s. AMS-IX has more than 470 Interconnected global networks and traffic peak of over 1400 Gbps (1.2 Terabit per second), making it one of the most diverse and largest Internet Exchanges in the World. The AMS-IX platform provides a professional, high quality, non-blocking peering services for all types of IP traffic, be it regular IP data such as e-mail or web content, to also video/TV and voice. AMS-IX additionally hosts the first mobile peering point worldwide, the Global GPRS Roaming Exchange (GRX) and the Mobile Data Exchange (MDX).
More information on: http://www.ams-ix.net

For more information about AMS-IX, please contact Cara Mascini:
Tel: +31 20 305 89 99 Fax: +31 20 305 89 90
E-mail: pr@ams-ix.net http://www.ams-ix.net

's Werelds eerste 100 Gigabit aansluiting van Atrato op de Amsterdam Internet Exchange

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:44:00 +0100

Atrato IP Networks wordt eerste service provider met een operationele 100 Gigabit Ethernet aansluiting op een publieke internet exchange en markeert daarmee de volgende fase van de groei van het Internet.

Op 10 januari 2012 is een mijlpaal bereikt doordat service provider Atrato IP Networks als eerste organisatie met een snelheid van 100 Gigabit verbinding maakte met een publieke internet exchange. De aansluiting van Atrato op de Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) in het datacenter van TelecityGroup in Amsterdam Zuidoost is wereldwijd de snelste enkelvoudige aansluiting op een publieke internet exchange die ooit gemaakt is en is daarmee een belangrijke ontwikkeling voor internet als geheel.

Als één van ’s werelds grootste connectivity hubs ziet Amsterdam het internetverkeer voortdurend groeien. Om te voorzien in deze groei heeft AMS-IX, de op één na grootste internet exchange ter wereld, haar aanwezigheid in het datacenter van TelecityGroup in Amsterdam Zuidoost uitgebreid om hier de grootste en snelst groeiende netwerkaansluiting te creëren, met een capaciteit van meer dan 1.200 Gbps. De aanwezigheid van deze node, gecombineerd met een aanzienlijke hoeveelheid mondiale en nationale netwerk operators, maakt de vestiging van TelecityGroup de meest geschikte locatie voor Atrato om de capaciteit van haar netwerk te vergroten.

Aydin Yildiz, CEO van Atrato: “Ons succesvolle partnerschap met AMS-IX heeft geleid tot een steeds verder toenemende vraag naar bandbreedte bij AMS-IX, dus de stap naar 100 GE is een logische. Deze nieuwe verbindingssnelheid bevestigt TelecityGroups positie als belangrijkste connectivity hub voor Amsterdam, wat het de voor de hand liggende keuze maakt voor Atrato en andere organisaties waarvoor netwerkdichtheid een kernbehoefte is.”

Henk Steenman, Chief Technology Officer AMS-IX: “Dit nieuwe tijdperk van ontwikkeling is mogelijk gemaakt door de nauwe samenwerking tussen drie organisaties. Samen met TelecityGroup en Atrato hebben we dit uitgebreid getest met klanten en het is een groots moment om de 100 GE poort operationeel te zien gaan in onze grootste datacenter node.”

Deze wereldwijde primeur in een datacenter van TelecityGroup verstevigt haar positie in het hart van de digitale economie. TelecityGroup opent binnenkort haar vijfde datacenter in Amsterdam, op een locatie naast het datacenter in Amsterdam Zuidoost, om de toenemende vraag te faciliteren met nog eens 6.000 m2 aan klantruimte en 9 MW aan capaciteit.
“De wereldprimeur van Atrato – de eerste 100 GE aansluiting op AMS-IX – bevestigt dat TelecityGroup de beste locatie is voor organisaties die de hoogste eisen stellen aan connectiviteit, continuïteit en customer service.” zegt Martijn Kooiman, Sales Manager bij TelecityGroup Nederland. “We zijn er trots op om weer een nieuwe mijlpaal met AMS-IX te hebben bereikt, waarvan de grootste node is gehost in de Amsterdamse datacenters van TelecityGroup.”

AMS-IX builds PoP in EvoSwitch Datacenter

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:37:00 +0100

EvoSwitch Datacenter has today officially been added to the list of colocation providers with an AMS-IX Point of Presence (PoP), the PoP is currently being build and will be ready end of Februari, beginning of March. In addition to being an AMS-IX collocation EvoSwitch will be the first datacenter of its kind for which AMS-IX uses a single 100GE backbone connection.

EvoSwitch, who became an AMS-IX reselling partner in 2010, already has connected numerous networks and built a solid reputation and experience in the interconnection market. The state-of-the-art and energy-efficient site has 10,000 m² of space and is located in the Amsterdam region, with close proximity to the main airport of the Netherlands. Today, EvoSwitch serves more than 35 regional carriers and thousands of hosting, telecom, IT and enterprise customers.

AMS-IX launched its 100GE ports last year. The increase in capacity was a step in preparation to the traffic peaks many Internet networks and providers will be facing. This growth is thought to come from an increase of Internet use and demands of rich media (i.e. video streaming) over the Internet. A number of regional networks are preparing for the 100GE roll out at the moment, to ensure quality to their customers and manage traffic and network cost levels during live events, such as the 2012 Olympics and the Euro Cup.

“The greater Amsterdam region is growing fast and attracting more and more IP density. This demand is partially created by companies such as EvoSwitch and its customers”, says Job Witteman, CEO of AMS-IX. “It is an impressive step forward to both the region and the collocation market that EvoSwitch’s Green and e-efficient datacenter will roll out a 100GE connection on a full basis, including backbone.”

EvoSwitch’s AMS-IX PoP will go live in February 2012. EvoSwitch expects to connect numerous networks in the first half of the year.

“We are continuously looking for ways to improve the service to both our new and existing customers. With access to one of the largest Internet Exchanges in the world we offer a lot of added value”, says Eric Boonstra, Managing Director of EvoSwitch.

About EvoSwitch
Established in 2006, EvoSwitch is a next generation carrier neutral datacenter in the Amsterdam region with excellent connectivity due to the presence of many international carriers and the AMS-IX. It provides housing space and IT infrastructure solutions, peering and connectivity and in-house cabling. Customers can make use of full cabinets, custom cages and private suites. EvoSwitch offers datacenter services with 24/7 customer support from engineers and technicians. Customers include Wikimedia, Codemasters and Logica.
EvoSwitch delivers an energy-efficient “green” framework within which clients can design their own green data infrastructures. The data center is 80% more energy-efficient than traditional data centers, enabling substantial savings. It uses 100% green power and is a carbon neutral facility. Customers of EvoSwitch can make use of the Green Fan logo, a partnership of leading IT companies committed to environmentally friendly outcomes.

For more information about EvoSwitch, please contact EvoSwitch PR & Marketing:
Tel: +44 207 025 8215
E-mail: evoswitch@fireflycomms.com
Website: www.evoswitch.com

Record capacity take-up Amsterdam Datacenter Market

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:00:00 +0100

The capacity volume take-up of datacenter space in Amsterdam has reached records before the end of the year 2011. What was already a record-breaking business in 2010 will be outdone even in 2011.
This is one of the conclusions of the European Data Centres report of CBRE.

In the first three quarters of 2011 almost 10.000 m2 of datacenter space was rented. With this take-up Amsterdam has a marketshare of 33 procent of the total capacity take-up of dtaacenter space in the main cities of Europe. Amsterdam outperforms European cities like London, Paris and Frankfurt. Remarkable is that where Amsterdam shows growth all the other cities show a decline in take-up. This is due to its position as a connectivity hub and in response to the large number of technology and telecoms companies operating in the city which require significant and increasing levels of data processing capacity.

Amsterdam houses a lot of co-location centers and in European context is one of the most important cities in this market. Co-locationcenters are datacenters where users can rent hostingspace and connectivity for their servers. The popularity is amongst other things the result of the availability of the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX).

Dutch link: http://www.vastgoedmarkt.nl/nieuws/2011/12/08/Recordopname-datacentermarkt-Amsterdam
English link: http://www.cbre.eu/emea_en/news_events/news_detail?p_id=9185&title=Amsterdam_Data_Centre_Take-up_Soars_As_European_Economic_Crisis_Continues

AMS-IX realizes one hundred new connections to the Internet exchange in 2011 and grows organization

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 09:18:00 +0100

The Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) continues to enjoy a record breaking year in 2011 with regards to new customers and connected capacity.
By the 16th of November AMS-IX had already connected a total of one hundred networks for 2011, making it the highest number of connections in one year and the largest growth the exchange has seen in new customers since it emerged more than17 years ago.

The volume of growth symbolizes a boost in overall business for the not-for -profit organization and an achievement creating value all of the connected parties that exchange traffic at AMS-IX and its partners. AMS-IX grew with more than 20 % in new customers to a collection of close to 500 unique Internet parties by the end of the year and saw 32 % growth to 5.2 Terabits per second of connected capacity. A unique growth story in this world of decline, but Internet use is known for not following the world’s economic trends.

Job Witteman, AMS-IX CEO explains, “What our customers are looking for when joining an Internet Exchange is a large pool of networks they can exchange traffic with. The snowball effect created when a large volume of new networks join, is not only good for our new and existing customers, but for the Internet ecosystem as a whole.”

AMS-IX points out that more than 60% of its new connections originated from the efforts of their partners and resellers. The AMS-IX partner program was launched in 2010 to complement transport or datacenter services offered by service providers and adding a connection to one of the largest exchanges as part of their service portfolio. AMS-IX careful and selective process of partners has played a big role as the technical skills, business approach and industry reputation are important values that both AMS-IX and its customers take into account.

Economic trends do play a role in the hike of new connected networks. Job Witteman continues “European Networks were quick to see the cost benefits of joining AMS-IX in the early Internet era, what we now see is that Asian Middle Eastern and African networks also taking advantage of these benefits as they develop into cross regional networks.” He adds, “ This has also enabled us to grow our exchange community and organization. We increased staff to help manage new services and growth, and right now we are even expanding our offices this year into the building next door.”