The Midwest is getting another internet exchange point in a few days, with more to come. The startup Midwest-IX is throwing its launch party on January 19th out in Indianapolis. We’ve seen the European IXs getting started in major US markets the last few years, but this effort is entirely homegrown.
Founded by a handful of ISP veterans from Indiana and Illinois who were tired of connecting everything to Chicago’s 350 E. Cermak, Midwest-IX is looking to solve a problem that regional service providers have been wrestling with nationwide. If content is moving to the edge, why is so much being backhauled through the same half dozen nodes in the country. Building internet exchange points in a larger variety of key markets is an obvious solution, but the chicken and egg paradox is faced by all new IXs early on.
But Midwest-IX already seems to be over that initial hump, and has been carrying traffic on its Indianapolis IX fabric for some time now. They started out in the Lifeline DataCenters facilities at 733 W. Henry and 401 N. Shadeland, and have already added a node in the 365 Data Center facility at 701 W. Henry. Akamai is apparently already on board, with other CDNs to follow. They have been looking at replicating their model in other markets, with St. Louis being of particular interest.
Midwest-IX’s official launch party will be held at Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery at 5pm on Tuesday, January 19, 2016. If you’re in the neighborhood, the details are here.
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Categories: Interconnection · Internet Traffic
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Less than a week until the party, be sure to attend if you’re a network or datacenter operator in the Indiana area.