Switch and Data, the neutral interconnection and colocation provider, announced the NASA/Ames Internet exchange addition to its San Francisco Bay Area MetroPAIX. The relationship will enhance the interconnectivity options of every participant on Switch and Data’s peering and Internet exchange network by giving them access to over 30 additional networks at NASA Ames. Switch and Data’s Palo Alto PAIX is already the largest West Coast exchange with over 130 networks exchanging traffic there. MetroPAIX allows these customers to exchange Internet traffic, through a layer 2 switching fabric, with networks in five other locations throughout the Bay area. “The MetroPAIX interconnection between the Palo Alto PAIX and NASA Ames is another important step in our continuing effort to provide our customers greater Internet exchange options and increase the value proposition of our products and services. Participants can effectively peer with anyone on the distributed peering fabric as if they were in the same facility,” said Stephen Stuart, Vice President of Engineering for Switch and Data.
Through this distributed peering network, ISPs, content providers, research and educational network providers, and other Internet-centric businesses can immediately and directly exchange IP traffic with each other. MetroPAIX drastically reduces the cost of exchanging Internet with multiple partners in a metro by minimizing the physical presence requirement and the time necessary to build out to a particular address.
The dark fiber connection between NASA Ames and PAIX is being provided via IP Networks, the leading provider of optical networking in the San Francisco Bay Area.
