How Internet Exchange Points Work and How Important They Are for Digital Connection

A physical site known as an Internet exchange point (IXP) serves as a connection point for Internet infrastructure firms including CDNs and Internet service providers (ISPs). The "edge" of various networks is where these places are located, allowing network providers to share transit outside of their network. Companies that have a presence inside an IXP location can decrease the distance from other participating networks to the transit, reducing latency, enhancing round-trip time, and possibly even lowering expenses.

How does a point of Internet exchange operate?

An IXP are physical sites with network switches that direct traffic between the member networks. These networks split the expenses of maintaining the underlying physical infrastructure and related services using a variety of strategies.

When traffic is transported through several networks, those networks occasionally charge money for the delivery, much like when goods is shipped through external locations, charges are incurred. Member organisations communicate with one another via IXP to minimise expenses and decrease latency and avoid these charges and other drawbacks related to transmitting their traffic across a third-party network.

IXPs are substantial Layer 2 LANs (of the OSI network architecture) that are constructed using a number of Ethernet switches connected by physical buildings. The only true distinction between an IXP and a home network is scale, which is identical in principle to both.

IXPs can exchange traffic at speeds ranging from a few Terabits/second to hundreds of Megabits/second. Their main objective, regardless of size, is to make sure that numerous networks' routers are connected in a tidy and effective manner. In contrast, a person's house typically just has one router and a small number of computers or mobile devices.

Why is it essential to have Internet exchange points?

Without IXPs, traffic moving from one network to another might need to be transported from source to destination by an intermediary network. We refer to these as transit providers. It is not always a problem to do this; for example, a significant amount of international Internet traffic does so since it is too expensive to maintain direct connections with all of the world's ISPs. Relying on a backbone ISP to carry local traffic, however, might have a negative impact on performance, sometimes as a result of the backbone carrier delivering data to another network in a whole other location.

In the worst instance, traffic from one city intended for another ISP in the same city may travel great distances to be exchanged and then return again as a result of this condition, which is known as tromboning. A CDN with IXP presence has the advantage of streamlining data flow within its network and reducing unproductive pathways.

The majority of IXPs are owned and run independently by carriers, ISPs, and Internet exchange co-location providers, whether or not they have a commercial purpose. This creates network neutrality. While some IXPs only provide switched infrastructure to provide ISP interconnections, others also provide technical services to support the foundational global connectivity.

DE-CIX Interwire Internet Services Private Limited holds a federal licence and operates all of the exchanges, including Kolkata IX, operates the markets. They assist the interconnection between national networks and international players by creating an Internet Exchange Point in Kolkata, which will promote the development of the Internet in this area.

DE-Cix India is India’s Largest Peering Hub, offering carrier and data-center neutral Internet Exchange Points in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.