One of the key steps in our efforts to improve connectivity in Austria is our recent connection to the Vienna Internet Exchange Point (IXP), known as VIX. This connection was made via VIX2, located at the Interxion Data Center in Vienna.
What is an IXP and why is it important?
An IXP, or Internet exchange point, is a key infrastructure of the Internet that allows different Internet service providers (ISPs) and large networks to exchange Internet traffic between their networks. Connecting to an IXP such as VIX allows data traffic to be streamlined and accelerated, primarily by reducing the distance that data must travel.
Having servers in dozens of locations is a good start, but if we want to take our services to a whole other unparalleled level, we need to connect to as many networks as possible directly or through IXPs.
The importance of VIX for WEDOS Global
VIX (Vienna Internet eXchange) is one of the most important Internet exchange points in Europe. It has been operated by the University of Vienna since 1996. More than 160 national and international organizations use VIX infrastructure to optimize their regional Internet traffic. Participants include Internet Service Providers (ISPs), cloud providers, content providers, CDN operators, and academic and university networks.
At peak times, more than 1.3 Tbps of traffic flows through the VIX and it is one of the most important strategic Internet hubs in Europe. Its role in Central and Eastern Europe for data exchange is indispensable, providing a key infrastructure for many European ISPs and Internet services.
We connected to VIX via VIX2: Interxion Data Center in Austria, i.e. from our Austrian point (location) in Vienna, where we have 45 physical servers and 3 switches. Including the very high performance Arista 7280TR-48C6 switch. It contains 48 x 10G and 6 x 100G ports.
What benefits VIX brings to us and our customers
First of all, it’s a faster response time for your sites for accesses from VIX member networks. Which are all major Austrian internet providers such as A1 Telekom Austria, LIWEST, Salzburg-AG/CableLink, kabelplus GmbH, and mobile providers such as Vodafone D2, Hutchison 3G Austria and many other smaller ones.
In general, speeds between WEDOS Global and these providers will be in the lower units of ms. So if you have customers from Austria and use WEDOS Global Protection with web caching enabled, then especially static content will be served to them from reverse proxies directly in Austria almost instantly.
However, a number of networks from neighbouring countries, especially from the East, are also connected to the VIX. Here we have already existing connections(BIX.bg, Balkan-IX etc.), but they will complement each other or serve as a backup.
For us, it also means greater control and management of traffic, the ability to filter attacks more efficiently, and additional optimization options.
Conclusion
Joining VIX is an important milestone for WEDOS Global. We will gradually connect with all IXPs in Europe. We currently have 4 by independent measurement. the fastest and most stable DNS in all of Europe. We even have a plan to become number one. It will just take us a few months 😉