The London Internet Exchange (LINX) recently announced that they have committed to investing in a full network refresh of their US interconnection platform – LINX NoVA.
Nokia have now been named as the technical partner to support them through this refresh, due to take place later this year.
LINX NoVA was launched back in 2014 with the ambition of building a multi data center, interconnected platform for the internet community in the US. Nearly ten years on, the Internet Exchange Point (IXP) continue to welcome new connected members and data center partners to the community, but Richard Petrie, CTO for LINX recognized the need to add even further value to networks connected there.
“We are replacing all of our legacy devices at LINX NoVA that have served us very well over the years, but it’s getting to a point where we need to refresh the technology and design in order to add more members and grow the Internet Exchange Point. Northern Virginia remains at the heart of US connectivity and our mission is to deliver increased capacity and to bring more networks together. With many more of our members connecting at 100GE, we are also getting requests for 400GE capacity, so we need to be prepared and be able to deliver these in the near future.”
LINX have been working with Nokia as a technical supplier for nearly two years now. The partnership was born with Nokia supplying their 7750 SR-7s edge routers for LINX locations in London to enable members connected there to order 400GE services.
Rodney Dellinger, Webscale CTO from Nokia, comments on the partnership: “Working with LINX has been great as we both have passion for innovative networking technology that can shape the next generation of internet services. Our partnership started by integrating into their automation systems and deploying 400GE services across their European footprint. Nokia is proud of the fact that LINX selected us for an expansion into Africa and have now chosen us as their technical partner for the refresh of their US interconnection platform – LINX NoVA.”
The technical partnership has gone from strength to strength with Nokia being selected for LINX’s new interconnection platform in Kenya, LINX Nairobi late last year and now for the refresh of the LINX NoVA network planned for this year.
LINX NoVA will be deploying Nokia’s 7220 IXR routers, running Nokia’s SR Linux NOS, to provide L2 connectivity services to connect sites across Northern Virginia. Leveraging Nokia’s leadership in both EVPN and VXLAN routing capabilities, LINX NoVA will have the scale and performance it needs to turn up services quickly and efficiently. With Nokia’s model driven routing architecture and rich telemetry, LINX NoVA will be able to get the absolute most from their manageability and automation capabilities.
The LINX NoVA network refresh will enhance the capabilities and performance for existing networks connected at the IXP. It will also assist in the deployment and running of LINX’s range of interconnection services available at their London platform. This includes not only peering services, but closed user groups, private vLAN connections and also, coming soon, the exclusive Microsoft Azure Peering Service (MAPS).
Richard continues; “With the partnership with Equinix in Ashburn and with the promotion of the 100GE service, we’re keen to see another phase of growth in the LINX NoVA region. Across our global exchanges, we witness a thriving blend of access networks, end-user networks, diverse subscriber types, and content distribution. The central mission of an Internet Exchange Point is to seamlessly connect these elements, bridging the gap between engaging content and the end-users.”
“What is truly remarkable and continues to unfold, is the exceptional diversity of value that is now being offered throughout the exchange. We are now seeing a rich tapestry of offerings, encompassing various business models, including enterprise solutions and the evolving landscape of the distributed workforce. This framework shift highlights the innovation and adaptability within the industry, as we cater to the ever-changing needs of our interconnected digital world.”
