Edge IX, a division of Proximity Data Centres, has been established to help internet exchanges develop in regions of the UK which are currently underserved by these important connectivity hubs.
Edge IX internet exchanges are located in Proximity’s world class network of regional edge data centres which offer excellent colocation facilities and connectivity.
Why are internet exchanges so important?
The first internet exchanges in the UK were established in London in the mid 1990’s by a small number of ISPs. At that time internet traffic was routed across the Atlantic to US internet exchanges which incurred significant costs and time delays. The goal of the early internet exchanges was to keep traffic local in the UK
Today Edge IX is seeking to keep select internet traffic local to the regions of the UK. The establishment of internet exchanges play a vital role in regional economic development. The availability of these resources at a local level support digital businesses, regional tech hubs and bring significant economic growth to the regions across the UK. These will in turn bring new opportunities to the benefit of local communities. Internet exchanges help create tech communities to develop eco-systems of connectivity providers, content services and application developers.
Growth in internet traffic driving the demand for regional internet exchanges.
The ITU estimates that internet traffic grew from 719 Tbit/s in 2019 to 932 Tbit/s in 2020, a 30% increase. Closer to home, Statista estimates that in the UK there are 62.86 million monthly users of the internet rising to over 65 million users by 2026. To help manage this growth the port sizes available at centralised internet exchanges has increased from 10Mb to 400Gb with 800Gb ports will soon become available.
However, this growth of port sizes masks the underlying problem with this centralised model – there is too much data going through a limited number of exchanges. The growth of FTTP and 4K/8K entertainment services in the UK is also increasing this pressure.
Furthermore the introduction of local fibre and 5G/6G services delivering edge computing applications are providing significant productivity gains in sectors such as AR & VR, AI, manufacturing, IoT, healthcare and cloud gaming. These applications need to be deployed close to the user to lower latency and reduce IP backhaul traffic.
These next generation services require a more distributed internet exchange model – a hybrid model whereby some internet traffic is kept local at regional internet exchanges and other data routed through the traditional centralised model.
Edge IX is establishing regional internet exchanges at the Proximity edge data centres across the UK.
The first will go live in March 2023 followed by an ongoing roll out during this year and 2024. We welcome enquiries from all sectors including hybrid cloud, IoT, AR & VR, content providers and many more.
REDUCE
CAPITAL COSTS
Eliminate the cost of infrastructure upgrades to support increasing power and cooling demands.
INCREASE RESILIENCE AGAINST EVER INCREASING POWER USAGE
Applications now require 3 to 4 times more power than a standard home and this is only set to rise.
CATER FOR A FLEXIBLE
AND REMOTE WORKFORCE
As we grow to 20 data centres in the UK, we will be within 15 miles of 95% of the population, providing a far improved UX
REDUCE YOUR
ONSITE FOOTPRINT
Re-purpose onsite IT space for office use or rental savings
SCALE OR CONTRACT
AT SPEED
Adapt your rack space requirements as the business demands
MAXIMISE COMPATIBILITY
WITH HYBRID CLOUD SERVICES
Collocate the private cloud element of key services with heightened security, power and cooling resiliency
Want to find out more?
Our Approach
At Proximity we believe that colocation is a 24/7/365 service demanding the highest level of performance and security. Security in delivering power and cooling as well as the physical security surrounding each of our data centres.
Online businesses can lose $000,000’s per hour if their IT systems go down and the reputational damage can even more damaging.
Whilst we have customers who are both large and small, we know that their data is equally important to them which is why we strive so hard to protect it.
1000s of customers
across the UK including large global brands
134K+ Sq ft
of space across 6 centres
Performance and Service:
- Our edge colocation data centres are all tier 3 standard giving you peace of mind that your IT infrastructure will be supported 100% of the time
- Onsite engineers offering remote hands services
- 100% uptime service
- ISO9001, 14001,27001
- Edge Colocation data centres are also connectivity hubs and Proximity has plenty of choice of service providers with fibre, including dark, available
Security:
- 24/7 Security with perimeter fencing and other protection measures
- Each site has VESDA to provide heightened fire protection
- Data centres fully owned and managed by Proximity Datacentres
- Full perimeter fencing protecting the data centre
- Multilayer access control
- CCTV, VESDA and IG55 fire suppression for complete peace of mind
Bespoke configuration:
- Whether you need a ¼ rack to a bespoke private cage, Proximity Data centres can support you with the best data centres services in the UK market
- 20 locations all within 15 miles of 95% the UK population
- 1 SLA, 1 Contract, 1 Access process for 95% of the UK
Flexibility:
- Migrate up from ¼ rack to a full suite or from 1 data centre to 20 depending on your business requirements
Future-ready:
- With 75% of data forecast to be hosted at the edge by 2025, and Proximity delivering 95% coverage of the UK population by the end of 2021, you ensure your business is IoT and 5G ready
Connectivity:
- Full suite of connectivity services from 100Mb to 100Gb from our suppliers. Full resilient services including firewalls available
Want to find out more?
Implementation Journey
KICK OFF CALL
To pinpoint your key requirements and refine which services best suit your needs
AUDIT
Our partners can audit your existing setup and take back ups of all stored data
PACK UP
If required, any existing equipment will be disassembled and put in secure boxes for transportation
INSTALL
Installation of existing or new equipment at Proximity site
Want to find out more?
Our Edge Data Centres
Across all centres, we provide the following:
| Power Metering | |
| Cooling | N+1 |
| VESDA | |
| Fire Suppression | |
| Power Feeds | A+B |
| UPS | N+1 |
| Standby Generators | N+1 |
| Monitored Security Cameras | |
| Security Access entry | |
| Diverse fibre entry points | |
| Concurrently maintainable infrastructure | |
| Client Access 7x24x365 | |
| On-site engineers | |
| Storage for deliveries | |
| Client Wi-Fi and amenities |
Colocation Common Questions
A.
- No need for separate contracts or SLAs between multiple different data centres
- Huge reduction in on-premise footprint and increased resilience against upgrades due to power usage
- Access for your IT team to easily visit a centre near them
A
- It’s not an either or but rather about a healthy mix between the two. A hybrid approach is very common where you have a mix of public cloud and private cloud with the latter being stored within a data centre. For example, more sensitive information you may prefer to store on a private cloud for added security
A
- Yes – you will save money both on your office footprint in addition to ongoing operational and capital costs. For example, a data centre for 300 racks of IT would cost in the region of £5mill for setup alone – not to mention ongoing operational costs. Renting space brings this cost down to £1000s.
- In addition to direct savings, this also provides full peace of mind knowing it’s being monitored 24/7 in a secure environment