New research has shown that the shift to carrier-neutral Internet Exchanges (IXs) is revolutionizing data center connectivity, providing geographic diversity, redundancy and flexibility to meet the increasing demands of AI, cloud services and data-intensive applications .
According to a recent study, there has been a 600% growth in the deployment of IXs in the US over the past decade. study by Dstream Group, conducted on behalf of DE-CIX, which found that 80% of all US Internet Exchanges (IXs) are now data center and carrier neutral.
Of the top 50 largest IXs in the US, 35 (70%) are neutral, indicating a strong preference for this model among network operators, according to the report. By being spread across different operators and locations within a metropolitan area, neutral IXs help companies avoid supplier lock-in and provide the opportunity for redundant connections. This redundancy is essential for resilience.
Why use neutral IXs instead of traditional models?
The research shows that the data center and carrier model is proving to be more resilient and more adaptable to modern connectivity needs.
In today’s digital world, the demand for robust, flexible and resilient digital infrastructure is growing rapidly. With the rise of cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), organizations need faster, more reliable connections to meet the expectations of modern digital services.
Low latency, high-quality interconnection and network resilience have become essential for enabling everything from real-time data analytics to online gaming and high-resolution video streaming. In response, data centers and Internet Exchanges (IXs) are evolving to meet these demands.
Unlike IXs that are managed by individual providers or data center operators, neutral IXs are distributed across multiple data centers and managed by independent specialists, allowing them to provide more access points, improve network density and reduce latency.
Because they can connect to multiple data centers, they provide up to four times more facility connections than traditional models and also provide geographic diversity, which is a key factor in ensuring resilient connectivity.
Additionally, neutral IXs promote collaboration within digital ecosystems by connecting a wide range of data centers and networks, fostering competition and innovation and giving businesses more choice. Rather than fragmenting the market, the introduction of additional neutral IXs often promotes growth, leading to a more robust and interconnected ecosystem.
Demand for data center capacity in the US is at an all-time high, driven by the explosion of AI, cloud services and other data-intensive applications. Currently, the US has 11,200 MW of installed data center capacity, with an additional 5,500 MW under construction and 12,600 MW in planning. This indicates a potential growth of 160% in the near future.
Primary markets such as Northern Virginia and Dallas/Fort Worth are leading the way in data center construction. However, secondary and tertiary markets such as Las Vegas, Reno and Columbus are also emerging as important players in the data center ecosystem. These regions offer lower costs, tax benefits, and ample space and power, making them attractive for future data center development.
While traditional data center hubs such as New York and Los Angeles face space and power constraints, the secondary and tertiary markets are seeing growth.
Regions such as Phoenix, Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago are emerging as strong competitors, while smaller markets such as Las Vegas and Reno are gaining ground due to favorable conditions for data center construction. These secondary markets are well positioned to support the next wave of growth in the data center industry.
“The past decade has demonstrated the tremendous value of the neutral and distributed model for driving digital growth in the US market,” said Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX.
“The study shows that these IXs, which follow the European neutrality model, are not only future-proof, but also essential to support the emerging needs of cloud computing, AI and IoT to enable ultra-low latency connectivity for critical current applications. and future use cases.”