360 Networks launches remote peering service for wholesale customers

A new offering from 360 Networks aims to help smaller Internet service providers obtain direct connectivity to large content providers, 360 Networks Senior Vice President Rick Coma told Connected Planet. The offering, dubbed Virtual Internet Exchange (VIX), uses Layer 2 Ethernet to interconnect co-location facilities where major public Internet peering occurs. By connecting to any one of those facilities, a smaller ISP can gain connectivity to all of the other facilities. Alternatively, the wholesale customer can purchase a connection to one of the facilities from any point of presence on the network that 360 Networks operates throughout the western U.S.

“We take them into the exchange and to a cross-connect,” Coma said. “It’s up to them to determine who they peer with. Instead of buying transit they can directly exchange traffic with one another.”

Content providers can reach “eyeball” networks

The largest Internet backbone providers typically do not peer directly with smaller ISPs, instead requiring the smaller players to purchase a transit connection across their own or another large backbone provider. But Coma said operators of popular web sites often are willing to peer with what are commonly called “eyeball” networks that have large residential customer bases, such as those operated by smaller telco or cable companies. Content providers view direct peering as a means of enhancing performance by minimizing the number of router hops between content and end users.

For the smaller service providers, VIX provides a more economical alternative to previous options. “If they didn’t use us, they would have to lease capacity between each location and they might need to build diversity,” Coma explained.

The network facilities that 360 Networks uses to interconnect co-location sites are fully diverse and protected, Coma said.

360 Networks already has some customers lined up to use the new offering, which currently includes nine interconnected co-location facilities in the western U.S. The company plans to add three additional facilities to the offering.