IXPs

How the Vaultas Ecosystem Can Help Companies Through Coronavirus

As the coronavirus continues to spread across Minnesota and the United States, its impact on individuals and businesses has become increasingly pronounced. With employees working from home, retail stores launching online shops, and small businesses finding creative ways to make ends meet, IT systems and network environments need the ability to grow and change every day. 

The good news: the Vaultas ecosystem of carrier networks, data centers, cloud solutions and hybrid IT providers is fully prepared to support businesses and communities as they navigate the new and challenging circumstances brought on by COVID-19. Here are a few ways that Vaultas can help during this time of transition.

Collaborative Workforce Software

As companies shift to a remote workforce, they’ll need to find ways for employees to stay in touch and collaborate online in a secure manner so company information stays safe. There are many programs and tools available for premise-based or scalable cloud-based collaborative remote workforce solutions, but the learning curve can be steep. Vaultas is available for support and assistance as businesses look for the best in breed tools to support their internal and external customers with flexible and scalable solutions.

Expanded Internet and Peering Traffic

When we’re all home, our internet use goes up. This is due to employees working online, students learning online, others shopping online and the rest of us watching Netflix, reading the news or video chatting with family and friends. See how the powerful Vaultas ecosystem of worldwide networks and peering exchanges can ensure that your company’s internet and network connections remain fast, stable and efficient despite the uptick in usage or changing demands of a remote workforce.

Data Security Concerns

When companies make sudden and unplanned shifts to online work, they are more likely to be vulnerable to hacks, cyberattacks and security breaches. Cybersecurity is always a priority, but even more so today.

The Vaultas ecosystem was built for challenges like those created by the Coronavirus. Our ecosystem has significant security, IT and network assets, combined with flexible and scalable solutions that can be leveraged and deployed quickly in support of your businesses, customers, and employees, whether short term during the coronavirus pandemic or long term as a built in feature. Whatever your IT challenge, don’t hesitate to reach out and see how the Vaultas ecosystem can help your business during these challenging times.

Vaultas is a technology ecosystem provider enabling direct access to any network or service provider including, but not limited to;  hybrid IT solutionsdata storage and backup, disaster recovery and business continuity services, hosting, colocation, cloud storage, data center consulting, any internet and network or cloud based, hosted PBX and VOIP solutions and more. 

Our primary ecosystem access points are located in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, as well as Alexandria and St. Cloud, MN, and Milwaukee, WI, with remote access from anywhere in the world.  Contact us to get started. 

Internet Peering in the New Digital Economy

As we continue our discussion on internet exchange points and peering, it’s essential to look toward the future – or simply to the present. IXPs and internet peering are part of an ongoing digital transformation affecting the way the internet operates and how it is used.

In a recent article, Equinix discusses the realities of the new digital economy, and how IXPs and internet peering are playing a role in this ever-evolving landscape. We’ll summarize those shifts below.

Previously, if a certain geographic area experienced slow or unreliable internet connections, internet service providers couldn’t – or wouldn’t – do much to improve those users’ experience. Then, providers began to make a shift, moving from a “best efforts” status quo model to one that placed a high value on high performance and availability.

In doing so, providers worked to improve service delivery and reliability by developing new (and potentially redundant) internet peering hubs in those geographic areas. These efforts have continued as the need for scalability and resilience continues to grow.

 

Multi-IX Strategies

Another recent internet peering trend is the development of the multi-internet exchange, or multi-IX, strategy. Essentially, this is the use of dual suppliers or vendors to help providers achieve resilient peering by:

  • Protecting against operational issues or bugs that may affect only one of the dual providers;
  • Insulating users from sudden changes in provider status;
  • Ensuring that competition is high and pricing is robust; and
  • Expanding services and improving quality of experience.

Ultimately, it is the customer who benefits from multi-IX strategies, with lower costs and increased reliability. However, it also offers protections and benefits for service providers.

Internet exchange points and peering are making the internet faster, more reliable and more secure. If you have questions about IXPs and internet peering, and how they could benefit your business, get in touch today.

Vaultas is a premier provider of IT solutions, providing data storage and backup, disaster recovery and business continuity services, hosting, colocation, cloud storage and more. Call us to better understand the value that peering and IXPs can bring to your business!

The Benefits of Internet Exchange Points

In our last blog post, we provided an introduction to internet exchange points and peering, discussing the basics and general benefits of internet exchange points. Today, we’ll continue with a more detailed discussion of IXPs, and who and how they can benefit. Curious about whether an IXP is right for your business? Read on!

To recap: Internet exchange points, or IXPs, are access points through with providers connect their networks and exchange traffic. They are not internet service providers, but act as a switch that directs internet traffic to different networks.

Internet exchange points can be especially beneficial for local and small businesses, universities, and similar institutions. This is because the majority of their traffic is local. Therefore, by exchanging traffic with other local providers in the internet exchange point, the internet will become less congested and more efficient, leading to improved performance on apps and websites. Further, businesses won’t have to upgrade their internet networks nearly as often. This is a win-win for everyone on the IXP!

To further illustrate the benefits of internet exchange points: imagine that your internet service provider is located in New Jersey. So if you’re forwarding an email to your neighbor, it will first go to New Jersey before it goes across the street. Wouldn’t it be faster if your email was sent to a network in your city rather than a faraway location? Of course, all internet traffic eventually gets where it needs to go. But IXPs help it get there faster and more efficiently, improving the performance from the user’s standpoint.

Still not sure if an IXP will benefit your business? Give Vaultas a call – we’re happy to go over the details with you. Vaultas is a premier provider of IT solutions, providing data storage and backup, disaster recovery and business continuity services, hosting, colocation, cloud storage and more. Get in touch to learn more about how our services can benefit your business.

An Introduction to Internet Exchange Points and Peering

The needs and potential uses of the internet continue to shift among businesses in Minnesota and around the country. In response, the internet itself is changing, with more opportunities for connection, agility and security. At Vaultas, we’re always working to stay at the forefront of trends, determining whether they’re just that – trends – or whether they represent ongoing and long-term changes in how Minnesota companies are doing business online. Internet exchange points and peering are two such developments.

So what are internet exchange points, or IXPs? Here’s a brief definition, courtesy of Techopedia:

“An internet exchange point (IXP) is a physical network access point through which major network providers connect their networks and exchange traffic. The primary focus of an exchange point is to facilitate network interconnection through an exchange access point instead of third-party networks.”

While IXPs allow network operators to exchange traffic, they are not internet service providers and cannot, on their own, connect a user to the internet. Instead, they function as a sort of “building block” of the internet. In more relative terms, an IXP is usually an Ethernet switch to which networks connect one or more routers, thereby sending traffic across the switch to other networks.

So who connects to IXPs? Generally, internet service providers (ISPs) connect in order to allow their customers to communicate. In addition, content providers or advertisers may connect to IXPs in order to spread their content to customers of other ISPs.

Peering is an essential aspect of IXPs. But what is peering? DrPeering defines it as:

“Internet Peering is a local routing optimization, a way to exchange some of your traffic with neither party incurring Internet Transit fees.”

So while IXPs are the point at which ISPs connect and share information, peering is the process by which that sharing occurs. Peering allows networks to connect and exchange traffic without having to pay a third party to move the traffic across the internet. Peering is often less expensive than similar information sharing processes, and it gives network operators greater control over traffic flows.

Vaultas offers a wide variety of network connection options, and because we’re carrier– and vendor-neutral, we’ll work to find the best hybrid IT solution for you and your business. To learn more or get started, contact us today.