Data Center Interconnection (DCI)

Understanding Data Center Interconnect with DE-CIX India

When you hear the term Data Center Interconnection (DCI), the idea of connectivity is likely the first thing that comes to mind. Simply put, DCI enables the linking of data centers for smooth data exchange and communication. In today’s interconnected world, this connectivity is essential; without it, the conveniences we enjoy would simply not exist. Just think back to the era of jotting down phone numbers, relying on landlines, and spending hours in libraries to find information. The Internet has revolutionised our access to connectivity, becoming integral to our everyday lives.

What is Data Center Interconnect (DCI)?

Data Center Interconnect (DCI) is a service of connecting data centers enabling seamless communication and data transfer. In the era of cloud computing, big data, and digital transformation, DCI addresses the challenges posed by increasing data volumes and the need for robust disaster recovery and business continuity plans. DE-CIX India, a leading Interconnection Platform, is pivotal in facilitating DCI by providing a neutral and scalable interconnection platform for local and international networks.

The service employed in DCI are designed to ensure high-speed, secure, and reliable connections. Different methods can be implemented based on factors such as required data transfer speeds, security considerations, and the physical distance between data centers.

The primary objective of DCI is to enable efficient communication and data transfer between distributed data centers. Key objectives include:

  • DCI services allow businesses to easily scale their infrastructure by connecting to multiple data centers, ensuring they can handle growing data demands and avoid capacity limitations.
  • Allows organisations to connect to a wide range of network providers, offering flexibility and avoiding vendor lock-in.
  • Providing better access to regional networks and internet exchange points, benefiting end users.
  • DCI provides various connection types, such as Point-to-Point (P2P), Point-to-Multipoint, or Any-to-Any connections, allowing businesses to choose the best topology for their needs.
  • Reduces the need for dedicated physical infrastructure between data centers by leveraging shared networks and resources, helping businesses lower operational costs.
  • How is DCI Used?

    DCI services facilitate the seamless movement of content to, from, and between data centers, playing a critical role across various industries. In healthcare, DCI enable hospitals to address stringent business and clinical demands while preparing for future growth. In the fintech sector, DCI provides the robust networking infrastructure required by banks to manage traffic for digital products, including digital money transfers, real-time payments, and open banking via APIs.

    Moreover, DCI is essential for enabling data sharing with third-party providers and financial exchanges, integral to a bank’s digital services ecosystem. As enterprises gradually migrate their IT resources to multi-tenant and public clouds, the demand for DCI connectivity from enterprise data centers and between cloud data centers is poised to grow in parallel with this trend.

    The Importance of DCI for Businesses and Organisations

    DCI is critically important for businesses and organisations, primarily because it ensures operational efficiency and reliability. Here are a few reasons why DCI is essential:

  • DCI services allow businesses to easily scale their infrastructure by connecting to multiple data centers, ensuring they can handle growing data demands and avoid capacity limitations.
  • Elastic capacity options help organisations scale up or down based on their needs, optimising costs.
  • Allows organisations to connect to a wide range of network providers, offering flexibility and avoiding vendor lock-in.
  • Carrier-neutral environments ensure better redundancy and performance optimisation through multiple network paths.
  • It also enables virtual connections that allow fast provisioning without the need for additional physical infrastructure.
  • Pay-as-you-go models or other flexible pricing structures enable businesses to optimise costs based on their usage.
  • Example:

    A telecom provider uses Data Center Interconnect (DCI) to link data centers, ensuring seamless traffic management during high-demand events like holidays or sports broadcasts. DCI also supports 5G rollout by integrating edge data centers with core networks, reducing latency and enhancing user experience while maintaining reliable, high-speed connectivity.

    Conclusion

    Data Center Interconnects (DCIs) are indispensable in ensuring reliable, high-performing, and seamless data center operations across industries. By facilitating smooth communication and workload distribution, DCIs enhance the efficiency of interconnected ecosystems. Their categorisation into intra-data center, campus, and metro interconnects highlights their adaptability to diverse communication needs, making them a cornerstone of modern data infrastructure.

    The rise of edge data centers, driven by advancements in 5G, IoT, CDNs, SDNs, NFV, and AR/VR technologies, further underscores the evolution of DCIs. Positioned strategically at aggregation points, edge data centers provide low-latency computing resources, optimize bandwidth, and bridge the gap between raw data generation and traditional data center capacities. As organisations continue to navigate a data-intensive world, the synergy between DCIs and edge data centers remains critical in enabling efficient, scalable, and future-ready distributed computing ecosystems.

    The DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER

    Secure, High-Performance Cloud Interconnectivity

    Enterprises are increasingly faced with the need for secure and high-performance cloud connectivity. The DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER is an innovative solution that enables direct and private data exchange between cloud environments. This technology helps organsations optimise their cloud infrastructure, improving application performance and enhancing security against cyber threats. By leveraging DE-CIX’s robust platform, users can efficiently route traffic between public and private clouds, cutting out unnecessary data trips and reducing costs.

    What is the DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER?

    The DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER is a cutting-edge solution that revolutionises cloud interconnectivity, offering secure and high-performance data exchange between various cloud environments. This innovative technology allows enterprises to efficiently route traffic directly between public and private clouds, resulting in enhanced application performance and bolstered security against cyber threats.

    Key Features and Benefits

    The Cloud ROUTER leverages DE-CIX’s private, resilient, carrier-grade platform to deliver exceptional performance. It offers flexible bandwidths ranging from 100 Mbps to 400 Gbps, catering to diverse business needs. One of its primary advantages is the elimination of multiple data trips between data center locations and the cloud, leading to more efficient routing and reduced latency.

    Enhanced Security and Simplified Management

    Security is a paramount concern in today’s digital landscape, and the DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER addresses this by providing improved protection against cyber-attacks through direct routing within DE-CIX’s platform.

    Robust Security and Redundancy

    Security is paramount in today’s digital landscape. The DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER provides increased protection against cyber-attacks through direct routing within DE-CIX’s private, resilient, carrier-grade platform. This approach not only enhances security but also ensures redundancy by design, minimising downtime and maintaining business continuity.

    Cost-Effective and User-Friendly

    Implementing the DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER is a cost-effective solution for cloud services. Furthermore, the platform offers reduced cloud egress costs, making it an economically attractive option for businesses of all sizes.

    How the DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER Enables Multi-Cloud and Hybrid-Cloud Connectivity?

    The DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER serves as a powerful tool for businesses seeking to optimise their cloud infrastructure. This innovative solution facilitates seamless connectivity between various cloud environments, enabling both multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud architectures.

    Multi-Cloud Connectivity

    The DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER allows enterprises to connect effortlessly to multiple cloud service providers. This multi-cloud approach offers several advantages:

  • Flexibility in choosing the best services from different providers
  • Reduced vendor lock-in
  • Enhanced disaster recovery capabilities
  • By leveraging the DE-CIX platform, organisations can establish direct, high-performance connections between different cloud environments, ensuring optimal data exchange and application performance.

    Hybrid-Cloud Integration

    For businesses maintaining on-premise equipment alongside cloud services, the DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER provides a robust solution for hybrid-cloud connectivity. This integration offers:

  • Seamless data flow between on-premise and cloud environments
  • Improved security through private, direct connections
  • Enhanced control over sensitive data
  • The Cloud ROUTER flexible bandwidth options, ranging from 100 Mbps to 400 Gbps, allow organisations to scale their connectivity as needed, ensuring optimal performance for mission-critical applications in both on-premise and cloud environments.

    Conclusion

    The DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER represents a significant advancement in cloud interconnectivity, offering enterprises and Internet Service Providers a secure, high-performance solution for direct data exchange between cloud environments.

    By leveraging DE-CIX’s robust platform, organisations can optimise their network architecture, enhance application performance, and bolster cybersecurity measures. The Cloud ROUTER’s flexible bandwidth options, simple setup process, and cost-effective design make it an attractive option for businesses seeking to streamline their multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud strategies. As cloud adoption continues to accelerate, solutions like the DE-CIX Cloud ROUTER will play a crucial role in enabling efficient, secure, and scalable cloud interconnectivity for organisations across industries.

    Microsoft Azure Peering Service: An Overview

    As an internet service provider or enterprise, you’re constantly seeking ways to optimise your network performance and deliver superior connectivity to your customers. Microsoft Azure Peering Service, a cutting-edge solution designed to enhance your direct connectivity to Microsoft’s global network. This service offers you a more reliable and optimised network experience for your users accessing Microsoft’s cloud services. In this article, you’ll discover how Azure Peering Service works and explore its benefits for your organisation. Additionally, you’ll learn about DE-CIX India’s role in this ecosystem, providing you with valuable insights to make informed decisions about your network infrastructure and cloud connectivity strategies.

    What is Microsoft Azure Peering Service?

    Optimizing Cloud Connectivity

    Microsoft Azure Peering Service is a networking solution that enhances connectivity to Microsoft’s cloud services, including Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Azure. This service optimises public internet routing, providing customers with reliable and high-performing connectivity to the Microsoft network. By partnering with internet service providers (ISPs), internet exchange partners (IXPs), and software-defined cloud interconnect (SDCI) providers, Microsoft ensures optimal routing from the customer to its cloud services.

    Key Benefits and Features

    The Microsoft Azure Peering Service offers several advantages for enterprises and service providers:

    • Best public routing over the internet for optimal performance and reliability
    • Traffic insights, including latency reporting and prefix monitoring
    • Optimum network hops from the Microsoft cloud
    • Route analytics and statistics, including BGP route anomalies detection

    According to Microsoft, the service uses redundancy at both local and geo-levels to ensure robust and reliable connectivity.

    How Azure Peering Service Works?

    Direct and Optimised Connectivity

    The Azure Peering Service provides a direct, private connection between your network and Microsoft’s cloud services, bypassing the public internet. This dedicated pathway offers highly reliable and optimised internet connectivity to Microsoft’s SaaS services like Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365. By leveraging this service, you can experience improved network performance, enhanced security, and simplified network management.

    Collaboration with Internet Exchange Providers

    Microsoft collaborates with leading internet exchange operators like DE-CIX to expand the reach of Azure Peering Service. For instance, DE-CIX now offers this service through its Mumbai and Chennai platforms, enabling SMEs, enterprises, telcos, and ISPs to benefit from enterprise-class interconnection services. This collaboration ensures that you can access Microsoft’s cloud services with low latency and high bandwidth, closer to your location.

    Flexible Connectivity Options

    To utilise the Azure Peering Service, you can connect your on-premises network to a Microsoft edge location through a supported internet service provider or exchange provider. The service supports both Layer 2 and Layer 3 connections, offering flexibility in how you establish your connection. Once connected, you can easily provision and manage your Azure Peering Service connections through the Azure portal or API, streamlining your cloud connectivity management process.

    Benefits of Azure Peering for Providers
    Enhanced Performance and Reliability

    Azure Peering Service offers providers a unique opportunity to deliver superior connectivity to Microsoft cloud services.

    By optimising routing on the Microsoft network, the service ensures high availability and predictable performance. This optimisation allows providers to offer their customers a more reliable and efficient connection to critical services like Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365.

    Improved Customer Satisfaction

    Providers can significantly enhance their value proposition by offering Azure Peering Service. The service’s ability to provide consistent, predictable performance with a service level agreement (SLA) means providers can guarantee a superior user experience. This leads to increased customer satisfaction and potentially higher retention rates, as businesses rely more heavily on cloud-based applications.

    Advanced Monitoring and Insights

    Azure Peering Service equips providers with powerful tools for network management. The service offers traffic insights such as latency reporting and prefix monitoring, enabling providers to proactively address issues and optimise their networks. Additionally, route analytics and statistics, including detection of BGP route anomalies, allow providers to maintain optimal routing and quickly resolve any connectivity problems.

    Competitive Advantage

    By partnering with Microsoft for Azure Peering Service, providers can differentiate themselves in a crowded market. The ability to offer optimised public connectivity and local internet breakouts positions providers as premium partners for businesses heavily reliant on Microsoft cloud services. This competitive edge can lead to increased market share and revenue growth opportunities.

    USED CASES:

    HOCHTIEF AND Microsoft Azure Peering Service (MAPS)

    HOCHTIEF, the world’s 5th largest construction company, faced challenges with latency and connectivity between their infrastructure and Microsoft’s servers. By utilising Microsoft Azure Peering Service (MAPS) through DE-CIX, they experienced a remarkable transformation. The number of hops between their infrastructure and Microsoft’s servers drastically decreased, leading to a significant reduction in latency by 90% and consistently leading to a 50% reduction in trouble tickets. Specifically, HOCHTIEF’s Multi-Cloud-Connect Service by ecotel , powered by MAPS, brought down the connection time to Microsoft Teams from their headquarters from 53 milliseconds to just 5 milliseconds. This drastic improvement revolutionised their communication and collaboration capabilities, enabling faster and more efficient employee interactions, and ultimately boosting productivity and operational efficiency.

    Conclusion

    As a provider, leveraging the Microsoft Azure Peering Service through DE-CIX India offers significant advantages for your enterprise customers. By optimising routing and reducing latency, you can deliver an enhanced user experience for Microsoft 365 and other Azure-based applications. The service’s built-in redundancy and direct connectivity ensure reliable performance, even during network disruptions. As cloud adoption continues to accelerate, offering Azure Peering Service positions you as a forward-thinking partner equipped to meet evolving business needs. By embracing this solution, you’ll strengthen your competitive edge and provide added value to your customers. Consider exploring Azure Peering Service through DE-CIX India to elevate your service offerings and drive customer satisfaction

    News piece of DE-CIX Microsoft Azure Peering Service services impact on HOITCHEF

    Best ISP Practices: While Connecting to an Internet Exchange

    Internet Exchange is a physical infrastructure through which Content Aggregators and ISP’s exchange internet traffic. More advancements in IX technology have been seen over the last 10 years.

    Normally, the success of an IXP should be measured by its ability to sustainably contribute to the development of the Internet ecosystem within its community. Growth in the number of members connecting to IX encourages to exchange the internet traffic and keep it local.

    Members connect to Internet exchanges to peer directly with other ISP & content networks which results in lower reliance on Internet transit, with improved reliability & efficiency. As per Peering DB, there are now more than 600+ public internet exchange points. The main features of IX are to provide route-server peering.

    The peering policy of an IXP is normally categorized as Bilateral & Multilateral (Route Server) Peering.

    • The Bilateral Peering policy allows each network operator to choose which other network operators it wants to exchange traffic with. Peering connections must be manually established through coordinated technical action taken by both parties in the peering relationship.
    • Multilateral/Route Server Peering policy allows all the operators connected to the IXP to automatically exchange traffic with each other by making a single connection to a central service called a Route Server. This makes it easy for network operators to establish and manage large numbers of peering relationships at the exchange.

    While configuring these peering at IX, many issues have been reported with respect to misconfiguration of routers by new members. Some of the issues reported include unwanted broadcasts, MAC Flooding, ICMP redirects, misconfiguration of Rules & Filters.

    ISP’s should be aware of the best practices while connecting to Internet Exchanges.

    Download this documents presented at JANOG on “IX Configuration Best practices

    DE-CIX India provides Bilateral Peering & Route Server Peering through its world-class infrastructure backed by DE-CIX. This allows 220+ Networks to interconnect with each other.

    The Digital Triangle for Edge Interconnection

    Digital is reshaping how business is done. We are at the cusp of a completely new age in global economics, with enterprises, regardless of size and heritage, redefining their activities and their sectors based on digitalization. Organizations are leveraging their digital strength to reshape their own business models and how business is done within and across entire sectors, including automotive/mobility, healthcare, finance, and media.

    As they become digital, organizations are needing a new interconnection service regime customized for their needs. New and transformative technologies, like IoT, artificial intelligence, and 5G, are accelerating the pace of change in markets around the globe. These disruptive elements will serve as a “digital interconnection triangle” of future innovation, in turn creating still further interconnection needs at the edge.

    The heart, hand, and brain of future innovation

    Interconnection at the edge requires a new way of handling data streams, and a new way of interconnecting players within an ecosystem. The key factors that influence edge interconnection (if you will, the heart, the hand, and the brain of future innovation) are:

    5G (the heart):

    5G enables the management of a lot of different frequencies, and also enables the transmission of multiple data streams. Designed primarily for maintaining data from a huge number of sensors, 5G represents the foundation for the future evolution of the Internet of Things.

    IoT (the hand):

    IoT represents function in the digital interconnection triangle. In a 5G-enabled environment, it will be possible to connect an enormous number of devices within a physically limited space. This will open the way to digitalizing more and more currently purely mechanical processes. But managing the enormous number of sensors and data streams that will result in the Internet of Things in the future will not be possible without the support of artificial intelligence.

    AI (the brain):

    AI is essential in this mix in order to create the logic management and maintenance of data streams for innovative use cases and the respective ecosystem involved in the specific environment. This is the only way that the interconnection of millions of sensors in the Internet of Things can be managed efficiently. The solution is intelligently managed software-defined edge interconnection.

    Each of these factors is dependent on the other two, and it is only when they are interconnected that they can drive digital evolution. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

    Unlocking new use cases with edge interconnection

    Use cases that reflect this digital interconnection triangle will be many and various, but current scenarios include connected cars and autonomous vehicles on the one hand, and Agriculture 4.0 on the other. In both of these use cases, there is the need for widescale deployment of 5G masts, including edge computing capabilities (edge data centers), and the associated fiber connectivity to local data centers and regional cloud solutions. For these use cases, IoT devices and sensors are needed both within the landscape (in the road and in the soil to measure physical conditions) and on the mobile objects (throughout cars – the car itself can be considered as a mobile edge data center – and on autonomous farm machinery or watering/fertilization systems, for example).

    From this point, the masses of data that are generated by the given use case need to be intelligently sorted into, among other things: data that needs to be processed locally with extremely low latency to enable rapid response times; data that can be sent to the cloud for processing if the response times are less critical; data that needs to be accessed by specific actors (but not others) in the value chain: and data that will be stored long-term versus data that will be discarded. The list goes on…

    The complexity of this demands intelligent management of the data streams

    Edge interconnection – the next generation interconnection

    DE-CIX is working on developing a solution based on consideration of this triangle. Software-defined Internet Exchanges may well be one of the solutions not only to serve these needs efficiently and fast, but also to enable fast and cost-efficient expansion of the interconnection industry with less dependency on hardware. SD will also both bring more dynamism and encourage greater productivity.

    IoT is the edge, AI is in the edge, and 5G serves the edge: The software-defined exchange provides the solution to the forthcoming digitalization challenge – namely, the ability to operate and manage the data streams of the future.

    – by Ivo A. Ivanov, CEO, DE-CIX International 

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